A lawsuit has been filed against Sea Island Resort LLC by a former employee who claims she lost her job due to her pregnancy. According to GPB's report, Kathleen Pinto, a Florida woman, is taking legal action against the Georgia-based luxury resort company, asserting that she was unjustly fired from her position at the Sea Island Beach Club's Snack Shack in July 2021. Pinto's dismissal came shortly after she informed a resort chef of her pregnancy. She claims she was told not to report for her next shift due to a supposed reduction in staffing.
However, the narrative of a staffing reduction was contradicted in an interaction Pinto says she had with an resort's human resources representative. This representative allegedly informed her that the staffing agency responsible for her employment, APDC Cleaning Services, was still seeking workers for Sea Island positions. Despite Pinto's account and the subsequent legal action she has taken, Sea Island Resort has not released a statement on the issue.
Not just facing a lawsuit in Brunswick federal court, the resort has also been named in a similar filing against APDC Cleaning Services in Orlando federal court, which took place a day before, on June 17. None of the allegations have prompted a response from the staffing agency, as per the same GPB article.
The complaints detail that subsequent to her dismissal, Pinto was forced out of her onsite living accommodations, leaving her "effectively homeless" and without a means to return to Orlando. Pinto is currently seeking backpay, financial damages, and a jury trial, among other legal remedies for her alleged wrongful termination. The two cases spotlight the serious implications of what appears to be a violation of employment and anti-discrimination laws, with particular focus on the mistreatment of pregnant employees in the workplace, as per GPB.
