Fired because she intended to get pregnant

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A recently married woman filed a lawsuit claiming she was discriminated against because she told the boss she was intending to become pregnant. South Texas College v. Arriola (Texas Ct App 02/11/2021)

Her claim is that she told her co-workers and her supervisors of her intention to become pregnant, and then all of a sudden she's getting harassed, she's getting disciplined, and ultimately she gets fired.

The legal question is whether this states a claim under the Texas Civil Rights Act.

The employer, of course, says well look, the statute does not cover a situation where somebody is just INTENDING to become pregnant. It only covers cases where people are pregnant.

And the Texas Court of Appeals replied saying look, when we interpret the Texas statute we are going to look at Title VII cases for guidance, and the overwhelming number of Title VII cases like this have held that it is sex discrimination when an employer discriminates against a woman who says she intends to become pregnant.

The point being that when you discriminate against a person who is intending to become pregnant, by definition you're discriminating against women.

This may have been the first time it ever came up in a Texas court, but this is pretty much the rule of law all around the country under Title VII.