small dental office in northern VA. 8 employees. been there 3 years as a hygienist. told the office manager (who is also the doctor's wife) i'm pregnant on monday. friday morning they called me in and fired me for "client complaints." nothing in my file ever, never a complaint mentioned to me before.
they're a "small employer" — does Title VII even cover them? where do i go from here?
Title VII federal threshold is 15+ employees. 8 might be under. BUT — VA Human Rights Act applies to employers with 5+ employees and prohibits pregnancy discrimination. that's your route.
file with VA Office of Civil Rights AND with EEOC (preserve federal claim if there's any related party expansion). 300-day clock. find a contingency employment lawyer in northern VA.
document EVERYTHING. text messages, emails, who else was in the room. write down EVERY conversation you remember even if mundane. memory degrades within weeks.
also Pregnancy Workers Fairness Act (federal, 2023) requires reasonable accommodations. but small-employer threshold applies. state law is your primary tool.
I'm Sergei Tokmakov, California attorney (Bar #279869). The advice above is correct on the structure. Pregnancy discrimination claims are strongest when there's tight temporal proximity (3 days here is essentially conclusive on inference of causation), no documented prior performance issues, and pretextual reason offered.
VA Human Rights Act has been broadened in recent years to cover pregnancy and parental status. State agency processes are often faster than EEOC and don't require the federal 15-employee threshold. Most employment attorneys in VA take pregnancy/sex discrimination cases on contingency. Settlements typically run 6-18 months of pay plus fees. Informational only.