Pregnancy Discrimination Claims in Oklahoma

The most common pregnancy discrimination cases don't start with someone saying "we're firing you because you're pregnant." They start with an employer suddenly discovering "performance issues" that never existed before — issues that magically appear right after you announce your pregnancy, request maternity leave, or start showing. Your evaluations were positive for years. Now, within weeks of your pregnancy becoming known, your supervisor has concerns about your "commitment," your "reliability," or your "focus." You're placed on a performance improvement plan. And before the baby arrives, you're terminated for "failing to meet standards."

This pattern — pretextual performance claims masking pregnancy-based discrimination — is the hallmark of how these cases actually work. No employer writes "fired for being pregnant" in a termination letter. Instead, they manufacture a paper trail of performance issues to create the appearance of a legitimate business decision. Understanding how to identify and dismantle that manufactured narrative is essential for anyone facing this situation.

The Law: Multiple Layers of Protection

Pregnancy discrimination in employment is prohibited by several overlapping federal statutes, each providing different protections. The Pregnancy Discrimination Act (PDA), an amendment to Title VII of the Civil Rights Act (42 U.S.C. § 2000e), requires employers to treat pregnant employees the same as other employees who are "similar in their ability or inability to work." If your employer accommodates workers with temporary medical restrictions — allowing light duty for someone recovering from surgery, for example — it must offer the same accommodations to employees with pregnancy-related limitations.

The Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA), effective since June 2023, goes significantly further. Where the PDA required only equal treatment, the PWFA requires affirmative accommodations — employers must proactively modify work conditions for pregnancy-related limitations, much like the ADA requires for disabilities. This means modified work schedules, time off for prenatal appointments, light duty assignments, more frequent breaks, and other workplace modifications must be provided as reasonable accommodations unless the employer can show undue hardship. The PWFA closes a critical gap for workers who need accommodations but don't qualify under the ADA because pregnancy alone isn't a disability under that statute.

Oklahoma's Anti-Discrimination Act provides additional protections under state law, covering workplaces with 15 or more employees. Federal and state claims can be pursued simultaneously, giving Oklahoma workers multiple avenues for recovery.

The Pattern: How Pretextual Terminations Work

Pretext means the stated reason for an adverse employment action isn't the real reason — it's a cover story. In pregnancy discrimination cases, the pretextual narrative follows a script so predictable that experienced employment lawyers recognize it the moment a client describes it. An employee has a solid performance history, often spanning years of positive reviews and consistent evaluations. She announces her pregnancy or requests maternity leave. Within a short window — sometimes weeks, sometimes a few months — her supervisor begins raising performance concerns that were never mentioned before. She's placed on a performance improvement plan with new metrics or expectations she's never been held to. She fails the PIP (which was designed to be unfailable) and is terminated for "not meeting standards." Her position is filled by a non-pregnant employee.

Each step in this sequence can be explained away individually. Performance improvement plans exist for legitimate reasons. Employees are terminated for genuine performance failures every day. But when the entire sequence unfolds in a compressed timeline anchored to a pregnancy announcement, the pretextual nature of the narrative becomes overwhelming.

Proving Pretext: What Courts Actually Look For

Pregnancy discrimination cases follow the burden-shifting framework established in McDonnell Douglas Corp. v. Green. First, the employee establishes a basic (prima facie) case by showing she was pregnant, she was qualified for her position, she suffered an adverse employment action, and the circumstances suggest discriminatory motivation. Then the employer offers a legitimate, non-discriminatory reason — almost always "performance." And then the critical third step: the employee must show the employer's stated reason is pretextual.

This third step is where cases are won or lost. And courts look at several categories of evidence to determine whether the employer's performance narrative holds up.

Timing is the most powerful indicator. If your performance reviews were consistently positive for years and the first negative feedback arrived within weeks or months of your pregnancy announcement, that timing creates a strong inference that the "performance" concerns were manufactured for a discriminatory purpose. Courts regularly note that temporal proximity between a protected activity and an adverse action is circumstantial evidence of discriminatory motive — and the closer the timing, the stronger the inference.

Shifting explanations — where the employer gives different reasons for the termination at different times — are powerful evidence of pretext. The reason your supervisor gave you may differ from what HR documented, which may differ from the company's position in litigation. When the story keeps changing, courts and juries reasonably conclude that none of the stated reasons is the real one.

Differential treatment compared to non-pregnant employees is often the most concrete evidence available. If employees who aren't pregnant committed the same infractions without discipline — the same attendance issues, the same productivity dips, the same policy violations — while you were written up, placed on a PIP, and terminated, that inconsistency is difficult for the employer to explain. The more specific your comparisons (same supervisor, same timeframe, same conduct, different outcome), the more devastating they become.

Disproportionate responses — minor issues that receive outsized consequences — also signal pretext. A written warning for something that was previously handled with a casual conversation. A PIP imposed for the first time after years of satisfactory performance. Termination for an infraction that co-workers routinely commit without any consequence at all. When the punishment doesn't fit the alleged offense, the real reason likely lies elsewhere.

And direct evidence of discriminatory intent, while rare, is powerful when it exists. Comments like "Are you sure you can handle this job with a baby coming?" or "We need someone we can count on to be here" or assumptions that pregnant employees can't travel, work late, or handle stress — these statements, even when made casually, reveal the bias underlying the pretextual performance narrative. Document them immediately, with dates, witnesses, and exact quotations.

Pregnancy Stereotyping

One of the most insidious forms of pregnancy discrimination involves stereotyping — assumptions about what pregnant employees can or should do. Removing her from challenging assignments "for her own good," assuming she'll quit after the baby arrives, deciding she can't handle travel or late hours without asking, and limiting her advancement because "she'll be leaving anyway" are all forms of discrimination even when motivated by what the employer perceives as benevolent concern. The law is clear: the employer doesn't get to make career decisions for a pregnant employee based on assumptions about her capabilities or intentions. Those decisions belong to her.

Building the Paper Trail

Pregnancy discrimination cases are won or lost on documentation. The employee's contemporaneous records and the employer's files — including what's missing from those files — tell the story that determines whether a jury finds pretext.

Start documenting the moment you suspect a shift in treatment. Record every incident with dates, times, locations, what was said and by whom, who witnessed it, and any follow-up. Notes written the same day carry significantly more weight than memories reconstructed months later for litigation. Save copies of all written communications — emails, text messages, performance reviews, Slack messages — by forwarding them to a personal account or printing hard copies. If you're terminated and lose access to your work systems, evidence stored only on company servers may become inaccessible.

Identify comparators — similarly situated non-pregnant employees who received different treatment for the same conduct. And request your personnel file, which you're entitled to review. Compare what's in the file to what you were told verbally. If there are documents you've never seen, negative evaluations that contradict verbal feedback you received, or records suddenly appearing after your pregnancy announcement, those discrepancies strengthen the pretext argument.

The employer's documentation matters too. Look at what's missing: prior positive reviews that disappeared from the file, lack of any documented performance concerns before the pregnancy announcement, missing progressive discipline steps that the company's own policy requires, and absence of any investigation into the alleged performance problems. If the employer claims you were a problem employee, where's the evidence from before you were pregnant?

Filing Deadlines and the EEOC Process

Before filing a pregnancy discrimination lawsuit, you must file a charge of discrimination with the EEOC. In Oklahoma, the filing deadline is 300 days from the discriminatory act — a deadline that is strictly enforced and cannot be recovered once missed. After the EEOC investigates (or after 180 days if you request it), you receive a right-to-sue letter giving you 90 days to file in federal court. Oklahoma state claims have their own deadlines. For a detailed guide, see our article on filing with the EEOC.

Oklahoma is an at-will employment state, which employers frequently invoke as justification for termination. But "at-will" doesn't mean "for any reason" — it means "for any legal reason." Pregnancy discrimination violates both federal and state law regardless of at-will status, and an employer who fires a pregnant employee for pretextual "performance" reasons has not exercised legitimate at-will termination authority.

What Recovery Looks Like

Successful pregnancy discrimination claims can result in substantial damages: back pay for lost wages, front pay for future lost earnings if reinstatement isn't practical, reinstatement to the former position, compensatory damages for emotional distress, punitive damages for egregious conduct, and attorney fees. Title VII caps compensatory and punitive damages based on employer size (ranging from $50,000 to $300,000), but many pregnancy discrimination claims can also be brought under state law, which may provide additional or uncapped remedies.

What You Should Do Right Now

If you're facing adverse treatment after a pregnancy announcement, several immediate steps can strengthen your position. Don't resign — even if conditions become intolerable, constructive discharge claims are significantly harder to prove than wrongful termination claims, and resigning may forfeit rights you'd otherwise have. Document everything contemporaneously, because notes written at the time are dramatically more credible than later recollections. Request accommodations in writing rather than verbally, creating a paper trail for each request and the employer's response. Use your company's internal complaint process if one exists — it creates a documented record and prevents the company from arguing you failed to give them an opportunity to correct the problem. And consult an attorney before making major decisions about your employment, because the strategic choices you make early in this process — what to document, when to complain, how to respond to a PIP — can determine whether your case is strong or weak.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I prove my employer's "performance" claims are pretextual?

The strongest pretext evidence comes from timing and comparison. If your performance reviews were consistently positive before your pregnancy announcement and suddenly shifted negative afterward, that timing alone creates a powerful inference. Combine that with evidence that non-pregnant colleagues made similar mistakes without discipline, and the employer's narrative becomes very difficult to sustain. Preserve all prior evaluations, awards, positive emails, and any documentation that reflects your actual performance history.

Does the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act apply to my employer?

The PWFA applies to employers with 15 or more employees, including federal, state, and local government employers. If your employer meets this threshold, they must provide reasonable accommodations for known limitations related to pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions. You must request accommodations, and your employer must engage in a good-faith interactive process — similar to the ADA's accommodation framework.

Can I be fired while on maternity leave?

Not because of your maternity leave. If you qualify for FMLA leave, your employer must generally restore you to the same or an equivalent position upon your return. However, employers sometimes claim they eliminated the position for "business reasons" during the employee's absence. If your position was eliminated while you were on leave but similar positions were not, that timing and differential treatment may support a discrimination or retaliation claim.

What's the difference between the PDA and the PWFA?

The Pregnancy Discrimination Act requires equal treatment — employers must treat pregnant employees the same as other employees similar in their ability or inability to work. The PWFA requires affirmative action — employers must proactively provide reasonable accommodations for pregnancy-related limitations, regardless of whether they provide similar accommodations to other workers. The PWFA closes the gap for pregnant employees who need accommodations like light duty or schedule modifications but don't qualify under the ADA because pregnancy alone isn't a disability.

How long do I have to file a pregnancy discrimination claim?

You must file a charge with the EEOC within 300 days of the discriminatory act in Oklahoma. After receiving a right-to-sue letter from the EEOC, you have 90 days to file a federal lawsuit. These deadlines are strictly enforced. Do not delay — evidence degrades, witnesses' memories fade, and strategic options narrow with every passing week.

Should I file an internal HR complaint before hiring a lawyer?

Generally, yes — filing an internal complaint creates documentation that you reported the problem and gives the employer an opportunity to address it, which courts expect. However, consult with an attorney before or shortly after filing. HR departments represent the company's interests, not yours, and the way you frame an internal complaint can affect the strength of your legal claim.

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Pregnancy discrimination cases require careful evidence development and strategic timing. At Addison Law, we help Oklahoma workers identify pretext, build their evidentiary record, and pursue accountability. If you're facing adverse treatment after announcing a pregnancy or requesting leave, contact us for a consultation. The earlier you preserve evidence and seek guidance, the stronger your position becomes.

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This article is for general information only and is not legal advice.