Two former employees of Siouxland Oral and Maxillofacial Associates in Sioux Falls, SD, will receive a total of $118,775 after a jury found that they had been discriminated against for being pregnant, according to a story in the Argus Leader.
Richelle Dooley and Angie Gacke filed their discrimination lawsuit against Siouxland in 2002 through the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
In 2007, a Sioux Falls jury concluded that Dooley had been fired days after taking a job at the office when it was discovered that she was pregnant. The jury also found that Gacke was denied a job at Siouxland a few months later because she was pregnant.
Siouxland will pay $95,000 in punitive damages and lawyers' fees and $23,775 in lost wages, according to the story.
"When you're dealing with six digits, it sends a message to every employer that you can't discriminate against someone because they're pregnant," John Pekas, the lawyer who represented the two women, told the Leader.
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