Dollar General settles lawsuit claiming manager fired worker for being pregnant

Published

2 years ago

October 26, 2023

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Dollar General has agreed to cough up $42,500 to settle a lawsuit claiming a manager at a Georgia store fired a staffer “immediately” after finding out she was pregnant, and citing “health reasons” in her separation notice.

In September 2020, Calleigh Rutledge was working as a sales associate at a Dollar General in Baldwin, Ga., when she told the store manager that she was pregnant, according to a lawsuit filed by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in Georgia federal court last month.

“Immediately after learning of her pregnancy,” the manager said: “Since you are pregnant, you can no longer work here,” according to the EEOC, though Rutledge reportedly never requested maternity leave or suggested that she was unable to work during her employment.

Later that evening, the store manager called Rutledge to apologize for firing her, and said she would inquire about whether she could return to work for “light duty” at two hours per day the EEOC claimed in the court documents obtained by The Post.

The EEOC cited a text exchange between Rutledge and her manager, where the mother-to-be said she needed to work more than two hours per day in order to make enough money for her and her baby.

“Will that be safe? How many hrs are you thinking?” the manager replied, to which Rutledge said she wanted to keep her schedule the same throughout her pregnancy, the filing showed.

“Rutledge was never again placed on the work schedule,” according to the lawsuit, and just days after revealing her pregnancy, Rutledge received a separation notice stating her discharge was due to “health reasons.”

The EEOC shared that Dollar General agreed to settle the pregnancy discrimination lawsuit with $42,500 in a press release on Wednesday.

Of the sum, $29,750 will cover compensatory damages while $12,750 goes towards back pay damages.

It’s unclear if Rutledge sought to get her job back as a Dollar General cashier.

The federal agency also said Dollar General agreed to revise its anti-discrimination policies, provide annual training to its managers on Title VII — which protects employees from discrimination in the workplace — and allow the EEOC to monitor complaints of discrimination.

The EEOC declined to comment on pending litigation.

Representatives for Dollar General did not immediately respond to The Post’s request for comment.

The Tennessee-based discount chain hasn’t been having a good year so far.

Year-to-date, Dollar General’s share price has tanked nearly 60%, to $101.83, and it’s been getting slammed by retail theft and waning consumer demand.

The company warned Wall Street in August that its profits may plunge as much as 34% this fiscal year — compared to its previous forecast for an 8% decline — as it cut its full-year outlook for the second time.

Our revised guide is really a function of the slower transactions that were seeing, and higher expected shrink, Dollar General CFO Kelly Dilts said on a call with analysts after the company reported quarterly earnings that fell short of Wall Street estimates on Aug. 31.

The reference to shrink an industry term for stolen or damaged goods follows a troubling trend cited by other major retailers who have blamed the scourge of organized retail theft for impacting their bottom line.

Politics

Crypto isn’t crashing the American dream; it’s renovating it

Published

3 hours ago

July 27, 2025

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Crypto isn’t crashing the American dream; it’s renovating it

The US housing regulator’s decision to recognize crypto assets in mortgage applications marks a historic shift from exclusion to integration, opening new pathways to homeownership.

Business

US and EU agree trade deal, says Donald Trump

Published

4 hours ago

July 27, 2025

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US and EU agree trade deal, says Donald Trump

The United States and European Union have agreed a trade deal, says Donald Trump.

The announcement was made as the US president met European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen at one of his golf resorts in Scotland.

Speaking after talks in Turnberry, Mr Trump said the EU deal was the “biggest deal ever made” and it will be “great for cars”.

The US will impose 15% tariffs on EU goods into America, after Mr Trump had threatened a 30% levy.

He said there will be an EU investment of $600bn in the US, the bloc will buy $750bn in US energy and will also purchase US military equipment.

Mr Trump had earlier said the main sticking point was “fairness”, citing barriers to US exports of cars and agriculture.

He went into the talks demanding fairer trade with the 27-member EU and threatening steep tariffs to achieve that, while insisting the US will not go below 15% import taxes.

For months, Mr Trump has threatened most of the world with large tariffs in the hope of shrinking major US trade deficits with many key trading partners, including the EU.

Ms von der Leyen said the agreement would include 15% tariffs across the board, saying it would help rebalance trade between the two large trading partners.

In case there was no deal and the US had imposed 30% tariffs from 1 August, the EU has prepared counter-tariffs on €93bn (£81bn) of US goods.

Ahead of their meeting on Sunday, Ms von der Leyen described Mr Trump as a “tough negotiator and dealmaker”.

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