Schwab Discriminated Against Pregnant Advisor: Lawsuit

A former Charles Schwab employee is suing the brokerage firm for failing to accomodate her during her high-risk pregnancy.

According to the lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, Sherman Division, Brandy Hayes began working for Charles Schwab & Co., Inc. on Aug. 8, 2022.

Schwab, the suit states, "discriminated and retaliated against" Hayes by terminating her "for exercising her right to take FMLA leave for her own serious medical condition and for the birth of her child."

In February 2023, according to the suit, Hayes began reporting to a new supervisor, John Bergeron, in a new role as an associate advisor.

During her first meeting with Bergeron, the suit states, Hayes informed him "that she was pregnant, that her pregnancy was high-risk, and that she would need to go to the doctor more often than with a normal pregnancy," according to the suit.

After Hayes notified Bergeron about her high-risk pregnancy, Bergeron, according to the suit, "began to single Ms. Hayes out for criticism even though Ms. Hayes' call metrics were as good or better" than those of other members of the team.

On March 15, 2023, Hayes submitted a doctor's note to Charles Schwab "confirming her diagnosis of hyperemesis gravidarum and need to work from home through April 17, 2023."

The lawsuit explains that Hayes also needed to take frequent breaks because her condition made her throw up.

Schwab's "Human Resources did not approve any formal accommodation" allowing Hayes to take breaks for her hyperemesis gravidarum.

Hayes did discuss her need for breaks with Bergeron, the suit states.

"Bergeron initially said that Ms. Hayes could ping him when she needed to take a break to throw up. However, Mr. Bergeron then counted time Ms. Hayes spent away from her desk on these breaks against Ms. Hayes' call metrics."

On March 23 and April 4, Bergeron met with Hayes to discuss her job performance.

Bergeron criticized Hayes "for taking too many breaks to throw up in performance discussions with her," according to the suit, and there were times "Hayes needed to take a break due to her hyperemesis gravidarum but did not take the breaks because she knew the more breaks she took the more trouble she would get into" with Bergeron and with her call metrics.

On or about April 17, 2023, Hayes met with Human Resources to discuss a report of pregnancy discrimination that she had filed against Bergeron through Charles Schwab's online portal, according to the suit.

Human resources "dismissed" Hayes' concerns and "offered no help or resolution," the suit states.

Hayes ended up needing to take a short-term disability leave for the hyperemesis gravidarum until June 26, 2023, according to the suit.

Within a month of her return to work from her pregnancy-related disability leave, Bergeron met with Hayes "again to criticize her work performance," the suit claims.

On July 13, 2023, Bergeron "in fact placed Ms. Hayes on a Written Warning for her work performance," which made her "ineligible for quarterly bonus advance, promotion, job transfer, sabbatical, awards, and any other company programs that required her to be in good standing with the company for a period of 6 full months," the suit states.

Following her return from her pregnancy-related disability leave, "Hayes' call metrics met or exceeded the metrics hit by other teammates," according to the suit.

Hayes then took a second leave that was protected under the Family Medical Leave Act.

On the day Hayes went out for her protected FMLA leave, Bergeron "told her that when she returned there they would have to discuss whether or not Ms. Hayes would continue to work for the company," the suit states.

On Feb. 12, 2024, "the very day Ms. Hayes returned from leave, Ms. Hayes was immediately fired based on Mr. Bergeron's prior critiques of her performance," according to the suit.

"We sympathize with the medical condition that Ms. Hayes describes," a Schwab spokesman told ThinkAdvisor in an email. "But it was her history of workplace performance issues, that were entirely unrelated to her claims, which led to her time with the company coming to an end. Schwab values an inclusive culture that reflects the individual strengths of every employee, and we will defend ourselves against this unwarranted complaint."

Credit: Bloomberg