The federal government is suing a senior care provider in Western New York, alleging that it discriminated against pregnant employees and illegally restricted their use of paid leave.
The accusations are leveled against Absolut Care LLC, based in East Aurora, NY, which owns about a dozen upstate nursing home and assisted living facilities. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission filed the suit on behalf of Lisa Valentin, a former food service supervisor at Absolut’s Orchard Brooke facility, who was terminated in August 2015 after suffering serious complications from her pregnancy, Bloomberg Law reports.
According to the EEOC, Valentin sought to take a brief medical leave but was denied by her employer. Absolut did grant her 30 days but did not hold her job open during that period. She was later fired, Bloomberg reports, when the 30 days expired. Valentin countered, asking for medical restrictions while on duty, but Absolut allegedly declined, saying that it has a “no restrictions” policy, requiring workers to be 100% healed before returning to the job.
The class action lawsuit also alleges that Absolut subjected workers to unlawful medical inquiries and testing, including being asked to “disclose virtually their entire medical history.” A call and email to Absolut Care on Tuesday by McKnight’s were not returned by production deadline.
