A Portland-area woman claims she was fired while pregnant with her second child after male managers told her she spent too much time going to the bathroom.
Dawn Steckmann is suing her former high-tech employer for $406,000.
According to her lawsuit filed in Multnomah County Circuit Court, Steckmann and other employees had never been told they needed to clock out before using the restroom at Maxim Integrated Products, a Beaverton company that produces wafers for wireless devices.
But Steckmann states that while pregnant and using the toilet more often than she used to, she was suddenly fired for “stealing from the company” for using the restroom on the company’s dime. She'd worked for the company for 10 years, most recently as a fabrication technician making $18.76 per an hour.
Dawn Steckmann's suit states that other workers who weren't pregnant weren't required to clock out before using the restroom.
Melissa Healy, a Portland attorney for Maxim Integrated Products, declined to comment about the lawsuit, citing the pending litigation.
Steckmann's lawsuit -- which claims pregnancy and gender discrimination -- comes as the U.S. Supreme Court is weighing another issue involving pregnant workers' rights to accommodation. The high court heard arguments Wednesday in the case of Peggy Young, a former UPS delivery driver from Maryland who says she was forced to take unpaid leave after UPS wouldn't abide by a doctor's note stating she shouldn't lift heavy packages.
According to Steckmann's suit, when she was pregnant with her first child in 2011, she asked her supervisor if she should clock out during restroom breaks because her pregnancy was causing her to urinate more frequently. The suit states that her supervisor said she didn't have to clock out.
After the birth of her first child in February 2012, she took 8 ½ weeks off for medical leave before returning to work, the suit states.
In late January 2013, Steckmann told her supervisor that she again was pregnant, and he “appeared unhappy with the news,” states the suit.
Again, she needed to use the bathroom more frequently -- but this time it was worse because of a disabling bladder condition caused by her first pregnancy, according to the suit.
“Plaintiff’s bladder issues were so severe that she would not even have had time to clock out to use the restroom without an accident,” states the suit.
In April 2013 -- two or three months after announcing her second pregnancy -- Steckmann complained to the company’s CEO that her supervisor appeared to be favoring male employees in assigning out tasks and administering discipline.
In June 2013 -- about two months later -- Steckmann “was suddenly called to a meeting” with her supervisor and a human resources manager for the company, according to the suit.
“They immediately asked Plaintiff why she was not clocking out when using the restroom,” the suit states. “Plaintiff was dumbfounded and replied that she was not aware that she had to clock out.”
The suit states that her supervisor incorrectly claimed that he had told Steckmann that she needed to clock out. The suit claims that the human resources manager told Steckmann that for all he knew, she could be watching movies in the bathroom.
Steckmann promised to clock out before using the toilet from that point on and pleaded to keep her job, but was unsuccessful, the suit states.
Steckmann’s lawsuit seeks up to $106,480 for lost wages, a bonus she says she wasn’t paid, lost benefits and damage to her reputation. She seeks up to $300,000 for emotional distress. She also wants her job back.
Portland attorney Mitra Shahri is representing Steckmann.
-- Aimee Green