Woman Becomes Homeless After Employer Fired Her Because She Was 32-Weeks Pregnant

Betzaida Cruz Cardona is 32-weeks-pregnant and recently became homeless after her employers fired her because she was expecting a baby. In New York, Cruz had a job working as a cashier since April 2014 and made just enough to pay her rent. However, at one of her doctor’s visits, her doctor gave her a note saying that she shouldn’t lift more than 25 pounds because of her pregnancy.

According to Think Progress, a half an hour after she handed in that doctor’s note and told her manager she still wanted to keep her job, she was fired without any explanation. Unbelievably, Cruz found out that the human resources department told her manager that she should “stay home and take care of [her] pregnancy.” A spokeswoman for the company responded to the allegation and said, “we have not, do not, and will not tolerate discrimination of any type, including pregnancy discrimination, toward our valued employees.”

After Cruz was fired, she said everything took a turn for the worst. She said, “My family, we didn’t have enough money to pay everything. It was just arguments and fights [with her boyfriend] because I had lost my job. So I lost my apartment, I lost everything. I tried to get a job, but since I’m pregnant it really has been hard. I’m planning after I have [the baby] on starting to find a job, but first I have to find somebody that can have her while I’m working.” She added that she’s been moving from house to house and that it’s extremely stressful and depressing.

In 2014, a similar case concerning pregnancy discrimination was brought before the United States Supreme Court. A pregnant woman named Peggy Young sued her employer because she was placed on unpaid leave after her doctor advised her not to lift more than 20 pounds.

As LifeNews previously reported, Peggy worked as a driver for the United States Postal Service and was rarely required her to lift heavy packages. However, they refused to excuse her from those duties, or reassign her for light duty jobs; instead they left her in a difficult situation. Young lost her health benefits, pension, disability benefits and her pay for seven months.

She argued that she was a good and honorable employee, and that it would have been easy for the company to accommodate her needs. Young also mentioned that at the time she had a second job where she delivered flowers and had to lift heavier items than she did with UPS.

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Young later sued UPS under the federal Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1978 (PDA), which requires employers to treat pregnant women the same as workers who are “similar in their ability or inability to work.”

Twenty-three pro-life organizations supported Young, including Concerned Women for America, Students for Life, Bethany Christian Services, Heartbeat International, the Catholic Medical Association and Christian Adoption Services. In a rare alliance, pro-abortion groups like the American Civil Liberties Union, side with pro-lifers on this issue on grounds of women’s equality.

LifeNews Note: File photo.

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