Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, August 17, 1994 TAG: 9408170068
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: TODD JACKSON STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
It's a photo of Linda Spencer, a former employee at Martinsville's Tultex Corp., sitting at her computer with pen in hand, her lips turned up into a semi-smile.
Above her picture are the words, "Employee of the Month."
Spencer filed suit against Tultex in Henry County Circuit Court on Monday claiming she was fired because she was pregnant. The suit alleges that Tultex violated the Family and Medical Leave Act and company policies.
Under the federal Family and Medical Leave Act, an employee is allowed to take up to 12 weeks' unpaid leave after the birth of a child and is guaranteed the same or equivalent job on returning to work.
According to the suit, here's how the situation developed:
Spencer had six years' experience with Tultex and had received several pay raises and promotions. In November, she was named the company's Employee of the Month.
In May, Spencer began a maternity leave from her job as an administrative assistant. When she was ready to come back to work in July, she was told her job had been eliminated, the suit says.
A temporary worker was hired to fill Spencer's job when she went on pregnancy leave, and the temporary continues to do Spencer's job, the suit also says.
Spencer is asking to be reinstated to her job and is seeking up to $1 million in damages.
Defendants named in the suit are: Tultex; John J. Smith, the company's vice president; and Ronald Cox, director of human resource management.
Neither Smith nor Tultex spokeswoman Kathy Rogers was available for comment Tuesday.
Cox said he could not answer questions about the suit "because it involves a matter between an individual employee and the company."
Spencer's action comes on the heels of another discrimination suit against Tultex filed by a former employee two weeks ago.
Tania Riddle, a highly paid merchandise manager at Dominion Stores Inc., a Tultex subsidiary, also claims she lost her job because she was pregnant. She went on maternity leave in late April and was told by a Tultex executive in June that no job was available for her.
Her suit contends that Tultex, through a reduction in salaried work force, filled her job with a male employee who had accepted a demotion. Riddle was not afforded the same opportunity to displace an employee with less seniority, according to the suit.
Lewis T. Drane, general manager of Dominion Stores, said last month that Riddle's job was a victim of a restructuring, and the job she once held is "much more encompassing" now.
"There were no jobs I felt [Riddle] was qualified for," he said.
Drane is a defendant in Riddle's suit. Smith, the company's vice president, also is named as a defendant.
Roanoke lawyer Paul Beers is representing both women. Riddle and Spencer have declined interviews, choosing to let Beers handle questions about the suits.
Asked if there was any significance between the timing of the litigation and a union vote scheduled for today and Thursday at Tultex, Beers said neither Riddle nor Spencer's case would be covered by an organized labor agreement because of their salaried job status.
"It has nothing to do with the election," he said. "I haven't talked with anyone representing the union."
by CNB