Thank God! Finally, someone submitting a story to this site who doesn’t have their head up their ass and knows how to deal with inapprpriate work situations. Good job, lady. That douche deserved to get fired.

It’s great to hear a story where the asshole got what was coming to him. There are so many stories here of people being taken advantage of, and it’s nice to hear someone speak up for themselves and win the bad situation.

If HR hadn’t been on her side, she should have threatened to bring in a bedpan or start peeing in a cup at her desk. When you gotta go, you gotta go.

He did deserve to get fired, but someone as articulate and reasonable as you shouldn’t STILL be working at what sounds like a call center. You can do better! I would hire someone like you!

What’s the baby’s name?

Eh, that sucks, but if your worst job was to deal with an inept boss who was your manager’s superior (meaning you did not directly deal with him) during a pregnancy, then this is a fairly humdrum story. I am glad you talked to the HR about his assshattery, but boring story is boring.

I agree with Ted and Molly, it’s refreshing to see a story where someone was being an unreasonable asshole get what they deserve in the end. Having been through my wife’s pregnancy, and those of several of our friends I’ve heard (sometimes at length) how uncomfortable it can be to have your bladder squished by the baby, and how going to the bathroom, no matter where you are suddenly feels like a life or death situation.

preventing a pregnant woman from using the toilet? WTF! i agree, someone like you deserves better than this shitty job!

That was awful of him, not to mention illegal. Glad he got fired!

really he should not have said that to you, but then again wtf r u doing working?! preggers women need to lie down and take it easy, especially during the last trimester. you should find a job that lets u take maternity leave, i’m assuming this one doesn’t have it.

It’s not a physically labor intensive job. If she was lifting heavy boxes, working heavy machinery, or around dangerous chemicals, I could see your point “really.” In our current economy in the US, the unemployment rate being high enough to warrant Emergency Unemployment Compensation, you just about take any job that you can get, if you need it bad enough. I believe they have to give you a mandatory 12 weeks, but a lot of companies pay the same rate as FMLA (Family Medical Leave Act,) which is only 60%.

I was afraid this story would end with you getting chewed out for not defying biology better and then getting fired. Hey, really, maternity leave is only twelve weeks long and some companies are small enough to be exempt. I can’t imagine that a lot of women have the option of taking off at the sixth month and then coming back to work the day after they deliver (there’s serious recovery time if there’s a C-section.)

I’ve known pregnant women in office environments basically working up untill they go into labor, one was even sending work emails from the delivery room. Some women dont have the luxery of being able to take any time off work outside what is absolutly nescessary.

^agreed. I work in a nursing home (lots of walking, heavy lifting, stooping, crouching, and getting kicked/slapped by old people) and we still have women that work until their water breaks. With the crap pay we get, sitting at home not getting paid isn’t an option.

@Meshell – I actually work in the same company. Everyone got to work directly with him because he would make it part of his day to come after anyone that wasnt working directly in accordance with his schedule or methods. Try to call a customer back after the line dropped? NOPE! Cant do that, you have to take more phone calls. In a customer focused support center that was absolutely one of the worst things we could have done when we had wait times of about 60minutes.

We’re an inbound support center for a software developer. We basically have no metrics that we’re measured or held against for job performance (raises and the such are based off knowledge and ability to help others). If management wasn’t so piss-poor it would be a great job. However its the piss-poor management that leads into this story

I am glad I am not the only one who thinks he was crazy! His name is Toby…he’s 2 and half already!

@really: yes, shame on you, pregnant woman soon to have a child to support. Don’t you know you’re supposed to be barefoot in a kitchen somewhere? Clearly your plucky spirit and love for your family should be enough to feed, house and clothe your child – that’s the American way. Working outside the home is crazy talk, you (and more importantly, the fetus inside you) are far too fragile for that sort of thing.

@Dev – The FMLA doesn’t pay 60%, it doesn’t pay anything. It only protects you from losing your job for up to 12 weeks. Most companies offer short term disability (employee paid, of course) at 60% of your salary for 6 weeks for a vaginal birth or 8 weeks for a cesarean. I worked until I went into labor with both my kids and was back at work the day they turned 6 weeks old. “laying down and taking it easy” doesn’t pay the bills.

@really: despite what a lot of people think, being pregnant is not like a disability. Unless she was a high-risk pregnancy for some reason (and she gave no indication to that effect), it’s actually better to be active. Giving birth is a very, well, labor-intensive process, and the better physical shape you are in, the easier it is. (You wouldn’t run a marathon after laying around for 9 months, would you?)