Apparently getting pregnant is grounds for firing in Eugene

Per Romenesko this morning. A Eugene Register-Guard reporter was fired while on pregnancy disability leave for -- get this -- checking her e-mail and deleting/forwarding messages. They call it "destruction of company property".

She wasn't a sports reporter, but I thought I'd post this. WOW.

http://www.eugeneweekly.com/20140403/news-features/reporter-fired-checking-email

 

The R-G's fucked on this one, as it should be.

 

Well, at least with a new baby she'll have an additional set of eyes to edit her freelance stuff. [/crossthread]

 

Something tells me the RG will find itself on the other side of the table on this one. This looks really bad. My guess is a non-disclosure settlement within a month. Forget the potential legal liability, the bad press (deserved or not) could wipe out any profit margin for the foreseeable future.

 

Looks like there has been some collateral damage; former co-worker terminated from freelance work for publicly expressing support.
http://www.eugeneweekly.com/blog/r-g-gets-rid-another-arts-writer-%E2%80%94%C2%A0bob-keefer-cut-freelance

 

Easy for me to say because it isn't my paycheck, but this is a case where a staff walkout would probably do the trick. Paper isn't going to want to answer these questions, nor will it want to go dark for a day or two.

 

He wasn't terminated. They decided they wouldn't be using him as a freelancer anymore.
What happened to this woman is BS. If the RG wants to win the inevitable lawsuit, aren't they going to have to prove that every deleted email gets approval from management to be deleted? I hope she gets paid a ton for this.

 

Instead of striking, just have everyone call in sick to their boss that day. Get paid the sick day and still sit out.

 

You would also think, by now, that management would know that when they pull shit like this, they're going viral.

 

If she does, it'll come largely at the hands of current RG employees.

That's the trump card companies have much of the time. Hit us with an unexpected $2 million hole in our budget? We'll make that up by letting 10 employees go, cutting travel and stop matching on 401(k)s. Problem solved.

 

The paper doesn't carry any type of insurance to cover the payout?

 

It's a newspaper, so...