Missouri Charter School to Pay $570,000 to Resolve Pregnancy Discrimination Claims By Consent Decree
On March 18, 2010, Imagine Schools, Inc. and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) entered a proposed consent decree with a Missouri federal district court to resolve the EEOC’s claims of pregnancy discrimination against Imagine Schools.
The EEOC filed suit against Imagine Schools alleging that when the company closed down an existing Missouri charter school, then reopened a new charter school known as Renaissance Academy on the same site, Imagine Schools refused to rehire two employees of the predecessor charter school because they were pregnant. The employees at issue, LuShonda Smith and Charity Brooks, later intervened in the lawsuit with their own counsel.
Under the terms of the two-year consent decree, Imagine Schools denies liability, but agrees to pay LuShonda Smith $295,000 and Charity Brooks $275,000 to resolve the dispute. In addition, the consent decree requires Imagine Schools to institute new anti-discrimination policies related to pregnancy discrimination, and further requires Imagine Schools to provide its staff with anti-discrimination training and report to the EEOC on its progress. Commenting on the consent decree in a press release, the EEOC declared: “There is no excuse for a company in the business of educating children to discriminate against pregnant women. . . . We are pleased that Imagine Schools is now setting a good example for today’s youth by recognizing that working mothers deserve the same opportunities as all other employees.”
