ST. LOUIS – A woman has filed a lawsuit against Irby Construction claiming sex and disability discrimination after she was allegedly fired without cause while on maternity leave.
Plaintiff Chelsea Hill filed a lawsuit in federal court against Irby Construction Company citing allegations of sex discrimination, disability discrimination and retaliation in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Family and Medical Leave Act.
According to court documents, Hill was hired by Irby Construction as a human resources coordinator in 2018 until her termination on October 26, 2022. In February 2022, Hill says she told her supervisor she was pregnant and eventually would be filing for maternity leave as allowed under the FMLA. Hill had her baby August 5, 2022, and was scheduled to return to work November 3, 2022. While on maternity leave, she says employees continued to call her with questions about work.
On October 26, 2022, Hill says she was terminated from the company allegedly for allowing employees to steal $150,000 worth of flame-retardant underwear. Hill says the reason is a pretext because, at the time of the theft, another employee was serving as HR director and was responsible for the company catalog and employee allowances.
According to Hill, she never was made aware of any compliance issues or employee benefit issues prior to taking maternity leave. She says she has been discriminated against based on her gender and temporary disability status as a pregnant woman.
Hill seeks compensatory damages for emotional distress, loss of wages and benefits as well as attorney fees, court costs and any other relief. She is being represented by Lauren Perkins Allen of Lauren Allen in Kansas City.
U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri case number 4:23-cv-01289