CHARLESTON – A Kanawha County woman says she was fired from her job because she requested time off for prenatal care.
Vanessa Swigart filed a lawsuit April 15 in Kanawha Circuit Court against National Travel Service Inc., alleging employment discrimination and violations of West Virginia’s Human Rights Act.
According to the complaint, Swigart started working as a receptionist for National Travel last September, and received a certificate of achievement in November for good work performance. However, the suit says that once she requested time off for prenatal care appointments and sought information about maternity leave, supervisors began complaining about the quality of her work.
The plaintiff states that National Travel then posted an advertisement for her job, despite telling her they couldn’t give her job away because she was pregnant. Although Swigart was never disciplined or written up for performance issues, she was terminated on Jan. 27, approximately three weeks before the birth of her child, the suit says.
Swigart seeks a jury trial, punitive and compensatory damages, interest and litigation costs. She is represented by attorney Kathy A. Brown of Kathy Brown Law PLLC in Charleston.
Kanawha Circuit Court Case number 16-C-579