Fired AT&T store manager alleges pregnancy discrimination

A longtime AT&T LLC retail employee is suing the communications company, alleging she was wrongfully fired in 2021 for getting pregnant and taking time off.

Jessica Lopez further maintains in her Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit that she was wrongfully accused of time card fraud as a justification for losing her managerial job at the Rowland Heights store and that she was diagnosed with breast cancer a year later. Her other causes of action include sexual harassment, battery, intentional infliction of emotional distress, failure to take all reasonable steps to prevent harassment and retaliation and violence by threat of intimidation or violence.

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Lopez seeks unspecified compensatory and punitive damages. An AT&T representative did not immediately reply to a request for comment on the suit brought July 17.

Lopez was hired for a sales job at the El Monte store in March 2012 and eventually was moved to the Alhambra location and then to the Monterey Park outlet, where she dropped out of college because she needed an income, according to the suit. She became pregnant with her first child in 2015 while at Monterey Park and she had with no employment issues, the suit states.

Lopez was elevated to assistant manager in Studio City in 2019 and to manager in Burbank in 2021, according to the suit, which further states that the plaintiff's area manager had a lukewarm response when she said she was pregnant with her second child in 2021.

"Lopez was taken aback by (the area manager's) lack of support when she told him was pregnant as she went through her first pregnancy with ease at AT&T in 2015," the suit states.

Lopez transferred to the Rowland Heights location in August 2021 and was optimistic about her opportunities there as store manager, the suit states. However, the next month the same business manager became angry when the pregnant plaintiff scheduled time off during business hours to get a coronavirus shot and also questioned her about the frequency of her medical appointments, the suit states.

"The last thing Lopez needed was for (the area manager) to give her a hard time about her doctor appointments and endure any type of anxiety and stress while pregnant," the suit states.

Lopez, who was fired on the allegedly false time card fraud allegations in November 2021, subsequently gave birth to a daughter, but a year later was diagnosed with breast cancer that required a double mastectomy in January 2023, according to the suit, which further states that the plaintiff needed her job more than ever after giving birth and suffering from cancer.

"Lopez continues to actively seek the guidance of a therapist to navigate through the overwhelming symptoms she now is forced to deal with as a result of her wrongful termination," according to the suit.

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