EEOC Sues Smithfield Fresh Meats Corp. for Pregnancy Discrimination

RALEIGH, N.C. – Smithfield Fresh Meats Corp., a Virginia-based corporation which operates a facility in Tarheel, North Carolina, violated federal law when it refused to provide a reasonable accommodation to an employee for pregnancy-related limitations, forced her to take unpaid leave and then fired her, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) charged in a lawsuit filed today.

According to the lawsuit, the employee informed Smithfield of her pregnancy shortly after she was hired. After the employee was involved in a workplace accident, she began having pregnancy-related complications that required medical attention. Her physician imposed certain restrictions on her, including a lifting restriction. The employee told Smithfield of the restrictions and requested a reasonable accommodation. Smithfield, which operates the largest pork processing facility in the world, told the employee that Smithfield does not provide accommodations for pregnancy. Smithfield then required the employee to take unpaid leave and, approximately two weeks later, fired her.

Such alleged conduct violates the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA), which requires employers to provide reasonable accommodations for pregnancy, and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits discrimination because of pregnancy. The EEOC filed suit (EEOC v. Smithfield Fresh Meats Corp., Case No. 7:25-cv-01410-M) in U.S. District for the Eastern District of North Carolina after first attempting to reach a pre-litigation settlement through its administrative conciliation process. The EEOC seeks monetary damages for the employee, including compensatory and punitive damages, and injunctive relief against the employer to prevent such unlawful conduct in the future. 

“The PWFA requires employers to provide reasonable accommodations to qualified employees with limitations related to pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions unless it causes an undue hardship,” said Melinda C. Dugas, regional attorney for the Charlotte District. “Further, the law prohibits employers from forcing employees to take unpaid leave when other reasonable accommodations are available.”

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

The EEOC’s Charlotte District Office has jurisdiction over North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia.

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 is responsible for investigating charges against state and local government employers before referring them to DOJ for potential litigation. 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. Stay connected with the latest EEOC news by subscribing to our email updates.