CCR Wellness Investments, LLC, d/b/a Massage Envy, violated federal law when it terminated a female employee because she was pregnant, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) charged in a lawsuit filed today.

According to the EEOC's complaint, around April 8, 2013, Morgan P. McCloskey began working as a front desk associate at a Massage Envy spa franchise located in the University area of Charlotte. A few days after her interview for the job, but before she started work, McCloskey learned that she was pregnant. McCloskey then notified the company about her pregnancy on her first day of work. Four days later, on April 12, the clinic manager and assistant clinic administrator at the facility fired McCloskey. The clinic manager told McCloskey that pregnant women should not be working, the EEOC said.

Such alleged conduct violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended by the Pregnancy Discrimination Act (PDA). The EEOC filed suit in U.S. District Court for the Western District of North Carolina (Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. CCR Wellness Investments, LLC, d/b/a Massage Envy, Civil Action No. 3:14-CV-00340), after first attempting to reach a voluntary pre-litigation settlement through the agency's conciliation process. The suit seeks back pay, front pay and/or reinstatement, compensatory damages, and punitive damages for McCloskey, as well as injunctive relief.

"No working woman should have to fear losing her job simply because she decides to have a child," said Lynette A. Barnes, regional attorney for the EEOC's Charlotte District Office. "Employers must remember that terminating an employee because she is pregnant violates federal law, and the EEOC will enforce that law."