Fox News host Laura Ingraham is being sued for pregnancy discrimination by her former personal assistant.
Karolina Wilson, 28, has filed a lawsuit against Ingraham and her company, Ingraham Media Group, claiming pregnancy discrimination, as the reason why she was fired the day after she returned from maternity leave, The Washington Post revealed.
The lawsuit was filed in the civil division of Washington DC’s Superior Court on February 9, according to court documents. It alleges that Ingraham violated the District’s Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, its Family and Medical Leave Act and its Human Rights Act.
Fox News host Laura Ingraham’s former assistant is suing her for pregnancy discrimination
Karolina Wilson, 28 (pictured), who worked for Ingraham for 16 months, claimed that Ingraham ‘treated her adversely’ after she revealed that she was pregnant and then fired her the day after her maternity leave ended
In addition to her firing after a pregnancy-related leave, Wilson’s complaint alleges that Ingraham ‘treated her adversely after learning of her pregnancy’ and ‘interfered with her ability to take job-protected family and medical leave.’
The filing also stated that Ingraham and her company stopped Wilson from taking more than three weeks off for full maternity leave, failed to give her a space to pump breast milk and didn’t tell her about her right to health insurance after firing her.
As a result of the alleged ‘discrimination, interference, and retaliation,’ Wilson — her family’s primary breadwinner — not only lost her income three months after giving birth, but had also lost her health insurance within a month of having the baby.
Wilson told the Washington Post she worked as Ingraham’s personal assistant for almost 16 months, maintaining the Fox News host’s work schedule, overseeing her household staff and responding to emails, among other tasks.
Wilson described Ingraham, a mother of three, as a ‘very demanding person who is not easily satisfied,’ but noted that she ‘always satisfied her and she was always happy with my work.’
‘She never complained to me about anything,’ Wilson told The Washington Post.
Wilson claimed that Ingraham (pictured) initially only offered her one week off for maternity leave, eventually giving her eight weeks off if she worked from home during that time
Ingraham, a mother of three (pictured), allegedly failed to provide Wilson with a private place to pump her breast milk when she returned to work. Ingraham has denied Wilson’s claims
Wilson said she informed Ingraham that she was pregnant in March 2017 and continued working for Ingraham until she went into labor on August 6 — two weeks prior to her due date.
In her lawsuit, Wilson said that she told Ingraham’s nanny that she was going into labor and asked her to tell their boss.
Ingraham then allegedly sent Wilson a text message ‘wishing her luck,’ followed by a string of assignments, including asking her to have ‘someone take over the nanny interviews which are critical.’
The text message also stated, ‘Need that exercise equip person to come fix etc,’ according to the lawsuit.
The lawsuit claims Ingraham only gave Wilson one week off for maternity leave to start with.
When Wilson said she needed more maternity leave than that, Ingraham apparently offered three weeks of leave, before upping it to eight weeks off — provided Wilson work from home for part of that time.
As the lawsuit states, Wilson ‘felt pressured to commit to working from home only two or three weeks after the birth of her child.’
Wilson ended her maternity leave, returning to work at the Ingraham Media office on October 9.
On October 10, an executive at the Ingraham Media Group allegedly called Wilson into his office and fired her.
Wilson was allowed to keep working until October 31 so that she could collect unemployment insurance.
But, during those three additional weeks, Wilson claimed that Ingraham would not provide her with a place where she could pump her breast milk in private and was not allowed any lunch breaks.
Ingraham did not comment on the lawsuit, but denied Wilson’s allegations via her lawyer.
In an email statement to the Washington Post, Ingraham’s attorney, Betty S.W. Graumlich, said that Wilson’s claims were ‘wholly without merit’ and that they looked forward to ‘litigating this case vigorously.’
Ingraham’s answering court filings disputed the notion that Wilson was ‘extremely efficient’ prior to her pregnancy and denied having any awareness that Wilson needed a place to privately pump her breast milk.
Ingraham’s team also denied Wilson’s assertion that she became hostile to her after she found out about Wilson’s pregnancy.
A hearing has been scheduled for May 11.