This Woman Was Fired Because of Her Kids’ Noise on Business Calls — And Moms Online Aren’t Having It

Some managers just really don’t get it. 

That certainly seems to describe the former boss of Dris Wallace, a mom blogger in San Diego who, up until recently, was also working in the financial world. Following the arrival of COVID, Wallace was stuck at home on a 9-to-5 schedule with two young kids and no childcare. And so she, like so many other moms right now, tried her best to push through and found herself “working around the clock from home while watching my two toddlers.” But despite her best efforts, her boss remained unimpressed — and unsympathetic. 

“He wanted me to figure out a way to keep the kids quiet."

Source: Instagram

“He wanted me to figure out a way to keep the kids quiet,” Wallace wrote in an Instagram post that’s since gone viral. “I went to Human Resources with proof of what was going on for the last three months, and seven days after that I got fired."

This, after months of putting up with her manager's demands — demands that sound like they would have verged on unrealistic even in pre-COVID times. But against the backdrop of a global pandemic, they’re downright heartless. 

“No working mother should be discriminated against , especially during these times for not being able to keep my 1 year old quiet for a business call,” she continued. 

“We are in tough times right now. This situation would have been temporary. None of my clients had issues with my kids in the background… IT’S NOT OKAY to have to feel that your boss is making you pick your work over your kids during these times.”

Since sharing her story a week ago, Wallace’s post has been commented on over 2,500 times, and she plans to take her former employer to court with the aid of Daphne Delvaux, Esq., also a working mom. The pair has already filed seven claims in San Diego’s Super Court, including for gender discrimination, retaliation and wrongful termination. 

Wallace says she hopes this will be a reminder to companies that it’s never OK to discriminate against working parents — a reminder that, clearly, too many companies still need.