An assisted living facility in Mississippi fired a worker hours after she started on the job because of her pregnancy, according to a lawsuit filed Thursday by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

On her first day at the Magnolia Personal Care Home in New Albany, the kitchen worker told her supervisor about her pregnancy, according to the EEOC announcement. Within three hours, the worker had been fired and replaced with a non-pregnant employee, the federal agency charges.

The EEOC is seeking damages, back pay and reinstatement of the worker for the alleged violation of the Pregnancy Discrimination Act, an amendment to the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The agency also is seeking injunctive relief to ensure that Magnolia does not engage in pregnancy discrimination in the future.

“The law is clear — employers cannot refuse to hire or discharge women because of their pregnancy,” stated Katharine W.  Kores, district director of the EEOC’s Memphis District Office.

Magnolia Personal Care Home had not returned a phone call from McKnight’s as of press time.