Accord reached in maternity lawsuit
Both sides settle on first day of trial
A former manager for a large maternity clothing manufacturer who alleged that she was fired because of her pregnancy settled a lawsuit against the company yesterday on what was to have been the first day of trial in US District Court in Boston.
The settlement was made after lawyers for both sides presented opening arguments. As part of the deal, the employee, Cynthia Papageorge, and her lawyer were barred from speaking with media or discussing the case. The terms of the deal were not disclosed.
The company,
Papageorge, now 45, filed suit against the company in 2003, contending that she was targeted and fired for being pregnant, and that a supervisor was fired for refusing to let her go. The company, which has been the target of similar lawsuits, said at the time that the charge was ''as far from the truth as possible."
The company owns and operates clothing chains such as Mimi Maternity and A Pea in the Pod, which have hundreds of stores nationwide. Papageorge, a district manager, had been in charge of about a dozen stores in New England.
During opening arguments yesterday, Papageorge's lawyer, Mark F. Itzkowitz, said a company vice president, Frank Mullay, a codefendant, was revolted by Papageorge's pregnancy when he came to inspect several of her stores in October 1999, during her 37th week.
''There was a look of horror on his face as she came out to meet him," he said. ''Her belly was all the way out."
Itzkowitz said Papageorge was an excellent employee, earning bonuses linked to the performance of her stores. When she became pregnant, he said, she worked even harder to prepare the stores for her maternity leave.
''She became a walking advertisement," Itzkowitz said, noting that she wore the company's clothing. ''She had a rapport with the clients. . . . Everything seemed to be going swimmingly."
At issue is a lunch Papageorge and Mullay attended after the inspections, where Mullay wanted to discuss what he deemed to be untidy conditions in Papageorge's stores. Papageorge contends that during the lunch, Mullay repeatedly referred to her pregnancy and asked whether she could do her job in her ''condition" and ''state," according to court papers.
Papageorge said in her suit that she noticed Mullay staring at her belly, as well as sneakers a doctor had ordered her to wear to ease swelling in her ankles.
Papageorge wasn't fired until June of 2000 while she was out on medical leave for a shoulder injury. She contends that Mullay had wanted to fire her since within days of that lunch.
A lawyer for Mothers Work, Michael Kraemer, countered during his opening statement yesterday that Papageorge's job -- and that of her supervisor, Jan Dowe -- were eliminated during corporate restructuring. He said that Mothers Work changed which managers oversaw certain stores, but that the decisions were made by company officials at a lower level than Mullay.
''Frank Mullay played no role in that," Kraemer said. ''His job isn't to micromanage."
Kraemer said that a third person at the lunch would testify and refute Papageorge's allegations. He also said that immediately after the lunch, Papageorge wrote detailed notes on the meeting, without mentioning any harassment.
Dowe contends in her lawsuit that Mullay directed her to ''replace female District Managers who were on maternity leave," including Papageorge. When Dowe refused, even seeking advice from the company's human resources department, she was fired, she alleged.
Dowe settled her lawsuit, and the terms were not disclosed.
