A former employee of the New York Times is suing the newspaper for gender discrimination, alleging that she was fired after she tried to use the company’s paid parental leave policy. She also alleges her superiors at the newspaper verbally harassed her for getting pregnant, saying she looked like she had “drank a few beers” and other derogatory comments about her weight.
The news is an awkward development for the Times, which has long championed efforts through its news coverage and editorials to fight gender discrimination.
The plaintiff, Arielle Davies, worked at the newspaper starting in July 2013 in the section that solicits online advertising. About a month after was hired, she became pregnant for the first time. When she applied for the six weeks of paid leave the company provides to employees, she was told that she was no longer eligible for it because she had been moved to a different section in advertising. Davies claims she was never told about this move until she requested the company leave.
The lawsuit alleges that after her request, Davies was told, “The good news is, you’re right, you found a loophole in our policy. The bad news is, we’ve now changed the policy so you’re still not entitled to it.”
Davies was nevertheless able to take time off under the Family and Medical Leave Act as well as disability leave. Shortly before she was due to return to work in October 2014, she was told that she had been terminated during a round of general layoffs.
“Plaintiff was the only employee in the Core Products Department whose position was eliminated, even though defendant had announced that it would not be eliminating any positions in Core Products in its latest reorganization. Defendants subsequently revealed, however, that they had transferred Ms. Davies from the Core Products Department to the Advertising Department in March 2014, shortly after she announced her maternity leave,” the lawsuit alleges.
The suit further alleges that her superiors reacted negatively to her requests for accommodations, such as working from home one day of the week. The lawsuit alleges that one superior “refused to discuss any telecommuting arrangements, with no explanation other than that he ‘wasn’t comfortable’ with such arrangements.”
A spokesperson for the Times could not be reached for comment.
