Hi all,

Anonymous

December 14,2022 at 7:49PM UTC

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Hi all,

I am a data engineer and was laid off from a startup, 1 day before, that is less than 2 weeks when I got back form my maternity.

I feel that the layoff is unjustified but Im not sure what action to take, if any, please guide me.

A little context:

My manager has good technical skills but is not a good people person. The day I joined office and met him in person, he hasnt asked me to join him on lunch, even when he would ask other men from my team sitting right next to me. Ive always felt a biased attitude towards me.

When I got pregnant, I decided to let my manager know at the earliest [ at 3 months ], so we could plan out the work accordingly with ample amount of time before I head out for my maternity break.

Next quarter, I started working on a cross collaborative project with data team and expressed my interest to move to a it [ Data team ] which was better aligned with my career goals.

Since then I have felt the bias towards me very strongly from my manager in previous engineering team.

I was never given any constructive criticism in the prior quarter at all but towards the end of the quarter I received an email with a lot of negative feedback around how my performance is impacted. Even though I did not agree to some of the things that were mentioned in that email I decided to take it positively and even responded on the email stating that thanks for the feedback but it will be helpful to get the feedback in a timely manner, something that I did 3 months ago and if I am given a feedback now I cant go back in time and change that.

One specific callout in that feedback was one project that I did, I single handedly finished the entire project by myself and it took me 2.5 months and I was told that it should have taken less than that without considering many external factors that impacted the delay, And the manager was well aware that I was in my 3rd trimester at this time and was out sick with COVID 19 along with my family. The time was extremely tough for us as a family but I did my best to get back to work as soon as I could and finish the project, but the feedback was that this project is late by 2 weeks and the timeline of the deliverable was 2 months was never communicated to me. And there were lot of nit picks in my work which was personally extremely demotivating.

After all this I kept working till a day before my planned surgery delivery date. On top of that, the moment I started feeling better I decided to get back at work [2 months after delivery date ] to save days from my maternity for when I would actually need them, even though we have unlimited PTOs. And within 2 weeks I have been delivered this news with 5 weeks of severance package.

I feel discriminated and need guidance what to do here. Should I let HR know and maybe also ask for a respectable severance package?

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Monica Lynn SadlerDecember 14,2022 at 8:01PM UTC
First things first...congratulations on your baby!!! Secondly, I'm so very sorry that you were let go in such a tasteless manner. I encourage you to reach out to an employment attorney. The whole thing seems fishy to me. Unfortunately, they may be justified depending on the state you are in. I hope you find a wonderful job that is everything you desire. In the meantime, apply for unemployment and enjoy your family!
AnonymousDecember 14,2022 at 11:14PM UTC
Ive been discriminated due to pregnancy. Read your contract, if you have it, read your company guidelines towards maternity leave. Also, find out according to your state if you’re protected through FMLA. Even if you are, your manager has already set the tone of the environment for you. You have to decide if you want to be in an uncomfortable environment. This sounds potentially to be a lawsuit if you have never been reprimanded or written up. FMLA protected me in my state and also there’s a law here where parents cannot lose their jobs during or within a certain time limit of maternal/paternal leave. I received a better package leaving than what was offered initially. I did lawyer up and then presented to HR cuz HR where I worked was not on my side. It was all politics. My advice is investigate your state law for maternal leave and FMLA rules. From another parent this puts a snag in your life but it will get better. It might just take some time.
AnonymousDecember 15,2022 at 5:31AM UTC
I agree that you should contact an employment attorney— a plaintiff’s representative (ie represents employees).
Select an attorney who specializes in employment law, if possible; this is usually preferable to a general practice attorney who occasionally does an employment case.
Your first consult should be free. Interview multiple firms to find a lawyer you like and get an idea about the relevant legal approaches.
Pregnancy discrimination is illegal throughout the United States under federal law. Your state may also have laws on this subject.
AnonymousDecember 15,2022 at 1:28PM UTC
Someone fell down on the job there. Your pregnancy may have had nothing to do with your dismissal, but the appearance is that it did. I agree with the recommendation to contact an employment attorney.
GirlBossanova934974December 16,2022 at 2:09PM UTC
Depending on this company's financial situation, you have a decent chance of getting something extra from an employment lawyer. The award will be partially based upon how much time you are out of work. I have worked for a startup in the last 3 years. My take? Startups are for single people who are early in their careers. These startups are also sometimes run by people who are NOT real managers with a defined set of skills that one would expect. A lot of these folks are winging it. A decent amount of people in 2020 and 2021 made a good chunk of change working for these startups when they went public. But going forward, I think the environment is going to be a lot tougher. I would be looking for a much more stable employer. Data engineers are in very high demand right now and will be high demand for some time to come. So you should be able to find something that pays well and offers much more stability.
AnonymousDecember 18,2022 at 3:53PM UTC
Contact an employment attorney asap. The majority do consults for free. This has the appearance of discrimination based on your pregnancy.