February 04, 2025
Judge Sings HR’s Song – Document, Document, Document
On February 4th a Texas District Court judge denied an employer’s request for summary judgement on a Pregnancy Discrimination Claim. The employer fired its HR Business Partner six months after she disclosed her pregnancy. The employer produced documentation backing up their claim that the employee was fired for unsatisfactory work performance. So, what’s the problem?
There was no “contemporaneously created documentation.” It was all created retrospectively and after the employee told them she was pregnant. In addition, prior performance reviews rated the employee as “consistently meeting expectations.”
This employee was also treated differently and harsher than other employees with performance issues. The employer’s practice was to issue corrective action before issuing a PIP. It had done so for other employees. This employee received no corrective action prior to receiving the PIP, which was issued after she informed them that she was pregnant.
As a result, the judge found that “a lack of contemporaneous documentation despite evidence that the employer abides by rigorous record-keeping policies…is sufficient evidence to create a genuine issue of material fact as to whether [the employer’s] proffered explanation (of unsatisfactory work performance) was unworthy of credence and thus pretextual.” The case will next be presented to a jury.
Lessons learned. Don’t delay. Document today. Follow your company’s policy and past practice for coaching, counseling and issuing corrective action. Spending a little time today, can save you lots of time (and money) tomorrow.
