Without a shadow of a doubt, being an expectant mother without a job is not an ideal situation for anyone. There are medical bills to pay, clothes, diapers, and other baby supplies to buy, and soon a child to feed. So, when one young woman found herself rejected from a job she applied for after she told them she was pregnant, she and her boyfriend were furious. She decided she would not let the employer get away with it. This begs the question; what did she do about it? And did her plan work? Join us to read this inspiring young woman’s story. Providing For Your Family Many women find it difficult to financially sustain themselves during their pregnancy. One woman found it difficult to convince an employer that she was the right person for the job. No matter who you are, it is difficult to find the right job. One young lady, unfortunately, had an interview canceled when an employer found out that she was pregnant. However, she wasn’t going to let the company in question get away with it. She hit back at them in the best way imaginable…

The Mother In Question The expectant mother in question was Lindsey Wilcox, a native of Lakeland, Florida, who like many young women, just wanted to have a good life. Lindsey worked a number of part-time jobs after her time in high school came to an end. However, she was looking for a full-time job, despite the fact that she had plenty of financial support form her loving boyfriend. Then, something happened that would end up completely turning their lives upside down.

Expecting A Baby Since the Fall of 2017, Lindsey had been dating Felix Jimenez. Things were going extremely well between the two, so much so that they eventually got the news that they were expecting a baby. Despite being elated by the news, they were also worried that they wouldn’t be able to provide everything the baby needed. Being parents is expensive. As a result, Lindsey knew that she would also need to get a job to make ends meet.

Something Part-Time Despite having the desire to get a full-time job, Lindsey knew that her pregnancy would eventually make any form of work extremely demanding from a physical point of view. Consequentially, she chose to only apply for part-time jobs in order to give herself enough time to focus on her pregnancy. While she wanted to make sure that she also had a job to provide for her growing family, she didn’t want Felix to feel like he was the only one doing anything about it.

A Struggle In order to give herself the best chance of securing a job, Lindsey sent a torrent of resumes and job applications left, right and center. However, finding an employer that took in pregnant workers was becoming increasingly difficult. Even if she was able to get interviews at companies, the large bump she had was proving to dissuade employers from hiring her. All she wanted to do was raise money so that her child could be born into a financially stable environment.

Taking A Chance One evening, Lindsay was looking through her Facebook newsfeed. Suddenly something caught her eye. It was an advertisement for the Reececliff Family Diner. It turns out that they were looking to hire waiters and waitresses. Because she was already familiar with the diner, and because she was willing to work the required hours, Lindsey decided to send in a copy of her resume. She couldn’t wait to hear back and know if she got the job.

The Callback After waiting to hear back from the diner, Lindsay finally got the good news that she had been hoping for. They called her back and scheduled an interview. When the time came, she decided that honesty was the best policy, so she explained that she was pregnant and in need of work. She also mentioned that finding a job was proving to be very difficult, but that she was ready to put in as much work as any other employee.

Devastating News After her interview, Lindsay was confident that her future employers would admire her honesty and give her a chance. However, she soon heard back from a diner representative, and it wasn’t the news that she had hoped for. The diner told her that her that they wouldn’t be moving forward with her interview and hiring process. Lindsay assumed that they saw her pregnancy as too large of an obstacle to work with. Lindsay was completely devastated.

Without An Explanation Lindsay was extremely frustrated after the diner rejected her application without even providing a legitimate explanation. She couldn’t believe that, after already scheduling a date and time for an interview, the diner would change their minds so quickly. Lindsay knew that the only reason they could’ve done this was that she told them about her pregnancy. At the very least, they could’ve provided an explanation. Right? She began to wonder if maybe she should have hidden this information.

The Word Spread In a state of anger, Lindsey took screenshots of the diner’s rejection messages and sent them to Felix. Just like his girlfriend, Felix was deeply upset to see that this diner would be so quick to turn away a potential waitress just because she was pregnant. The fact that Lindsey was onest from the beginning angered Felix even more. He knew that the mother of his child would be an ideal candidate for the job, so he decided to do something about it.

11 Sharing The Story Out of anger, Felix made the choice to post a screenshot of the exchange between Lindsey and the diner owner on his Facebook. He was hoping that there would be some local outcry at how a family run establishment could perpetuate such blatant discrimination against pregnant woman. With the photo, he wrote, “Let me just say this is wrong and I’m pretty sure illegal, and they won’t get another dollar from me.” It wouldn’t be long before other users took notice.

In The News Felix’s post wasn’t going to stay limited to his personal circle. It seemed like only hours before the photo had been shared by hundreds of people. With that, the local news also took notice, bringing even more attention to Lindsey and her predicament. Fox-13, one of the local networks interviewed her, and the resulting video has more than 2000 views. It wasn’t just the TV stations that wanted to share in the outrage, as the story became plasters around parenting minded websites as well.

A Viral Sensation It seemed the flood of comments just wouldn’t let up, earning Felix’s little comment over 650 shares, plus 200 reactions, and close to 200 hundred comments, almost all of them from strangers. Those who took part in the discussion surrounding the photo were equally outraged by the actions of the diner, noting just how illegal the practice was. Finally, the diner owner couldn’t ignore the growing backlashed and was pushed into responding. Their reaction spoke volumes about the kind of treatment they were doling out.

The Reaction As the outrage continued to grow, Reececliff Family Diner decided it was time they share a Facebook post of their own with the hope that it would clear their name. Unfortunately, they made another grave error, in that they also shared Lindsey’s resume, in order to try and demonstrate that she was unqualified for the position. Rather than helping their case, the diner found that even more people were angry, especially Lindsey, as it was a severe violation of her privacy.

Taking Legal Action For those who were subscribed to the diner’s Facebook page, the post was a blatant misstep. Many of those users who might have been inclined towards giving the diner the benefit of the doubt felt that goodwill dissipate. They also shared Lindsey’s personal information, including where she went to school, her address, and her previous work experience. Rather than offering support to the diner, the community suggested that it was time for Lindsey to find some legal counsel, who would confirm she had a case.

Going Against The Rules This was not the first time the diner had something that was against the law. Lindsey and Felix later learned more about the situation they were dealing with and discovered that the employer was also going against the rules of the diner by denying a pregnant lady the chance to work there. Technically speaking, this was considered discrimination, and no employer has the right to deny someone a job because of personal circumstances. Laws enforced by state and federal governments mean you cannot dismiss someone because of their pregnancy status.

The Right Way Employment attorney, Raul Valles, confirmed that employers do not have the right to dismiss someone because they are pregnant before an interview. In fact, employers should base their hiring decision on previous experience and their ability to do the job they are interviewing for. Therefore, according to federal law, employers should completely ignore the fact the woman is expecting a baby and allow her to interview. Even with a baby on the way, this should not be a contributing factor for any employer.

What Will Happen Attorney Raul Valles also explained that employers could do more harm than good to themselves if they discriminate against anyone in this way. Since the potential employee can sue the company or business and the employer can be put under a lot of financial stress. The potential employees can sue for numerous reasons such as potential wage loss, back wages, and emotional damage. With the actions of the diner employer having upset and angered Lindsay, she began to contemplate sueing.

Questioning Motives Many people from Lindsey’s community rallied behind her in support for what she endured. However, others questioned her motives behind her backlash towards the Reececliff Family Diner. With the diner being a popular spot for many over the years, fans of the diner believed it was possible that Lindsey was not being discriminated because of her pregnancy. Rather, they claimed that it was possible that she would not make a good employee, and many believed she just wanted attention in order to get a job.

Doing The Job Lindsey was upset by the claims that she would not make a good employee since she knew she would work hard at the diner. The soon-to-be mom was certain that she was being discriminated against over her pregnancy, and believed it should not affect her chances of getting the job. Although she had a baby on board, Lindsey knew she was just as capable as anyone else doing the job and, the whole situation continued to anger her. Meanwhile, Felix’s Facebook post angered a lot more people.

Part Of The Community Outrage in the community broke out when people heard that the Reececliff Family Diner had potentially discriminated against a woman for being pregnant. Many people expressed their anger on Facebook, responding to Felix’s Facebook post and commenting on the Reececliff Family Diner’s Facebook page. However, the locals decided to go a step further than this. People that lived locally announced that they would no longer eat at the diner, boycotting the establishment until problems were resolved. The community did not want to be associated with them.

Getting In Touch More and more people in the local area began boycotting the Reececliff Family Diner and posting to social media about them. As a result, the owner decided to reach out to Lindsey to settle their apparent miscommunication. The owner confirmed he was not the one to send the message to her on social media and that is was an employee who did it without any correct authorization. He explained, therefore, it was a simple misunderstanding that would be dealt with.

Teaching The Law The owner made sure to tell Lindsey that the employee will be educated properly on communication and the law and policies that the diner upholds. He knew that this incident would not have happened on his terms and did not want the reputation of his diner to be ruined by one employee. Therefore he would make sure this employee would be suitably educated. His diner was a staple in the community for decades and he did not want its name to be tarnished for something like that.

Followed For Decades The owner did not stop there and he went on to confirm that for the last 16 years they had been in business, he had always followed proper legal procedures. He pointed out they had never had an issue of the sort before and it would not happen again. He made sure that Lindsey knew he was extremely sorry for the ordeal that she went through as a result of his business and employee and that discriminating against employees for their personal circumstances is not something they abide by.

A Second Chance The owner of the Reececliff Family Diner would not stop there. He was so upset and embarrassed by his employee that he tried to make it right himself. He offered Lindsey a second chance to go into the diner for an interview and have an experience she had previously hoped for. He continued to say that he would make his decision based on her experience and how well she conducted herself during the interview. He was going to do things by the book and not let any other factors play a role.

Turning It Down Even though she appreciated that the diner owner was attempting to make amends with her, Lindsey wouldn’t have it. She decided to turn down their offer for another interview, as she no longer wanted any association with the diner that treated her that way. Lindsey decided to leave the past behind her and focus on finding another job. As her due date starts to edge closer, she’s running out of time to save up the money she’ll need for her family.

Still Excited Although unemployment has been very stressful for the couple, Lindsey and Felix are still psyched about their upcoming arrival. They have been using social media to document their progress and love sharing their journey with their close friends and family. While Lindsey is still disturbed by the occurrences of the Reececlif Diner, she has made the mature decision to put it behind her and move on. She’s done with the interviews and the press and now she’s ready to start a new and exciting chapter of her life.

Pregnancy Discrimination Although Lindey’s story is beyond disturbing, she’s unfortunately not the only soon-to-be-mommy who has battled against similar discrimination. Thousands of women around the country and in her home state, Florida, have complained about the issue and reported similar incidents. Because of copious complaints on the matter, in 2015, Florida legislatures decided to help end the discrimination, by altering the Florida Human Rights Act. They added in pregnant women to the list of groups who should be protected from employment discrimination.

Knowing Your Rights Working while pregnant is very physically demanding and when a woman has to deal with discrimination on top of that, life gets even more difficult. Although Florida does legally protect pregnant women, not all ladies are aware of this fact. Lawyers and experts stress how crucial it is for pregnant women like Lindsey to learn about their rights and fight for what they deserve. Knowledge is power so we’re hoping this story will teach girls like Lindsey how to respond in similar cases and what to expect.

on The National Level States like Florida have gone the extra mile to help protect pregnant women in the local workforce, but there are in fact laws about it on a national level. You may be surprised to hear that laws protecting pregnant women have been around since 1978, when the Pregnancy Discrimination Act was passed by the U.S Congress. Changes were made in 2008, to include pregnant women in the American with Disabilities Act, which is reinforced throughout the country.

Take A Break In addition to the Reececliff Family Diner, many famous establishments have also been lambasted in the media for their discriminatory practices against pregnant women. In 2017, retail department store giant Walmart came under the attention of news outlets after an employee, Whitney Tomlinson, divulged how she was treated by her superiors when they found out she was carrying a child in her womb. Tomlinson revealed that her higher-ups insisted she go on unpaid leave until after she gives birth. What a disgrace!

Reaching Out Whitney had been a loyal worker at Walmart so the way they treated her really came as a shock to her. Already with children at home, Whitney needed her paycheck more than ever now that she was pregnant with another. She spoke about this incident with her doctor, who informed her that what they were doing was much more than rude and inappropriate, it was, in fact, illegal. Whitney discovered an organization that advocates for women in discrimination cases like Tomlinson’s called A Better Balance.

Not Alone The organization helped Whitney by advising her on the legal courses of action available to her. Little did Whitney know that she was not alone in being discriminated against by Walmart for being pregnant. In fact, A Better Balance has filed no less than five pregnancy discrimination lawsuits against Walmart in recent years. Not being alone comforted her, especially as she found herself in a difficult situation. A Better Balance has since been assisting her in filing her own lawsuit against Walmart