Troupe v. May Department Stores Co.

Kimberly Hern Troupe (plaintiff) was a full-time saleswoman at the Lord & Taylor department store (the store) (defendant) in Chicago, Illinois. In December 1990, Troupe became pregnant and began to experience unusually severe morning sickness. Troupe requested, and the store granted, a part-time schedule from 12:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. Troupe continued to experience morning sickness at work, which caused her to be late on numerous occasions. On February 18, Troupe received a warning because she was late or left early on nine days in three weeks. Troupe was late again on February 19 and received a written warning. On March 29, after Troupe was late three days in a row, the store put her on a 60-day probationary period. During this time, Troupe was late 11 more times. On June 7, the store fired Troupe, who did not have an employment contract, although her maternity leave was scheduled to begin June 8. Before Troupe was fired, Rauch told Troupe that Troupe would be fired because Rauch did not think that Troupe would return to work after childbirth. The store had a policy of paying employees on maternity leave half pay, but Troupe did not receive any benefits after she was fired besides unemployment benefits. Troupe sued the store, alleging violations of the Pregnancy Discrimination Act (PDA) under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The court granted the store’s motion for summary judgment. Troupe appealed.