Former Walmart employee files complaint over discrimination against pregnant workers

Candis Riggins, a former Walmart employee, filed a federal complaint against the company on Wednesday. Riggins claims that Walmart discriminated against pregnant workers, including herself.

Riggins, who provided her full complaint to The Daily Beast, said that her Laurel, Maryland, Walmart location refused to move her off cleaning duties when the chemicals made her nauseous. The store, she told the Beast, moved a coworker with a back injury to accommodate his needs. And when Walmart eventually allowed her to greet customers, rather than clean bathrooms, they forbade her from sitting down at a stool, though injured greeters were allowed to sit down.

The complaint also says that Walmart terminated Riggins "in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964." The Beast notes that after a class-action lawsuit against Walmart in March, the company vowed to accommodate pregnant workers' temporary disabilities, but Riggins argues the retailer hasn't done so.

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Update 3:33 p.m.: Walmart reached out to The Week and issued the following statement: "Walmart is a great place for women to work, and our pregnancy policy is best in class and goes well beyond federal and most state laws. We take each individual situation seriously, and we'll work with our pregnant associates to make sure we provide reasonable accommodations when they are requested. If a manager hasn't followed our policy, we want to know about it so we can address it and take appropriate action."