Fight Pregnancy Discrimination

 Angelika Paul is an Activist Network member in Stoneham, MA

I declared my pregnancy in April of 2007. In December of that year, I went on maternity leave. When I got back from that medical leave I was told that my performance had deteriorated and that I would be put on a performance improvement plan. I had been permanently removed from all projects and my direct reports had been re-assigned.

 If I didn't like it I could take compensation package. I had worked there for 2.5 years and had very good performance reviews from my manager, peers, and direct reports until March 2007, right before I declared my pregnancy. I felt tremendously cheated and betrayed; I had tried to work harder than ever during my pregnancy. I talked to everyone possible to get transferred to another department, but no one could take me while I was on a performance improvement plan, though they all said they would be happy to work with me. I wound up leaving and filing a lawsuit against the company after a couple of months.

When I left my job, I joined a mother’s group where many of the women expressed serious concerns about discriminatory treatment at work or losing their job due to their pregnancy. As a result of my experience, I started a website and began to share my story. I would like to raise awareness of pregnancy discrimination to educate women about their rights and encourage them to file complaints if they feel they have been discriminated against.

Angelika’s Website can be found at: http://www.fightpregnancydiscrimination.org