Anaheim Woman Gets $24,400 in Pregnancy Leave Lawsuit

The state civil rights commission has awarded $24,400 in damages to an Anaheim secretary who suffered serious pregnancy complications and was told she could get more than a six-week leave only if her baby had heart failure.

The legal secretary, Valerie Rae Green, was fired by the Santa Ana law firm of Dimino & Card in March, 1985, because she refused, on her doctor’s orders, to return to work six weeks after giving birth. She said she was in considerable pain and could not sit down comfortably.

The state Fair Employment and Housing Commission said in a decision released this week that Green, like all other pregnant women employees, was entitled by California law to unpaid leave for up to four months while disabled.

Green, who learned of the decision from a reporter Friday evening, said she hoped it would send a message to employers around the state.

“It’s important that the courts say that employers cannot push people beyond their limits,” she said.

Green, 34, is now working as an office manager for the law offices of Stan Leventhal in Santa Ana. She and her husband, Gregg L. Green, now have two sons, aged 5 and 2.

“Your job and the workplace is very important, but it should never have to take priority over your health and taking care of your children,” she said.

Franklin Dimino, who had hired Green, and lawyers representing the firm in the case did not return telephone calls.