EEOC Sues Proper 21 for Pregnancy Discrimination

WASHINGTON – Proper Ventures, LLC and WSRZ Proper, LLC, operators of a restaurant chain in Washington known as Proper 21, violated federal law when it fired a floor manager while she was on maternity leave, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) charged in a lawsuit announced today.

According to the EEOC’s lawsuit, Proper 21 repeatedly questioned the employee about her maternity leave and expressed discomfort with her working while she was pregnant. Proper 21 pressured her to take leave earlier than she intended despite her ability to continue working, and ultimately terminated her in January 2024 after she requested to extend her maternity leave by two weeks.

“Under federal law, employers may not discriminate on the basis of sex, including pregnancy and childbirth,” said Debra Lawrence, regional attorney for the EEOC’s Philadelphia District. “Employers must provide a workplace free from discrimination and bias, regardless of pregnancy status or any other protected characteristic. Firing an employee because she’d recently given birth is unconscionable.”

This alleged conduct violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended by the Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1978 (PDA), which prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex, including pregnancy, childbirth and related medical conditions. The EEOC filed suit (EEOC v. Proper Ventures, LLC and WSRZ Proper, LLC, Case No. 1:26-cv-01824) in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia after first attempting to reach a pre-litigation settlement through its administrative conciliation process.

Mindy E. Weinstein, director of the EEOC’s Washington Field Office, said, “The Pregnancy Discrimination Act provides critical protection for pregnant employees and employees recovering from childbirth. The EEOC is committed to vigorously protecting and enforcing the rights of employees under the PDA to work and have children.”

For more information on pregnancy discrimination, please visit https://www.eeoc.gov/pregnancy-discrimination.

The lawsuit was initiated by the EEOC’s Washington Field Office, which has jurisdiction over Washington, D.C., and parts of Virginia. Attorneys in the Philadelphia District Office prosecute discrimination cases within the jurisdiction of the Washington Field Office.

The EEOC is the sole federal agency authorized to investigate and litigate against businesses and other private sector employers for violations of federal laws prohibiting employment discrimination. For public sector employers, the EEOC shares jurisdiction with the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division. The EEOC also is responsible for coordinating the federal government’s employment antidiscrimination effort. More information about the EEOC is available at www.eeoc.gov.