Mother Sues Target, Saying She Was Wrongly Fired

A former employee of a Camarillo Target store is suing the discount chain, saying she was wrongly fired for taking a week off to care for her sick baby.

Angela Lee, 22, alleges that Target Corp. has a “policy and practice” of discriminating against female employees who are pregnant, have recently given birth or take time off to care for ill children.

“It’s policy in the state of California to allow time for workers to . . . care for their children,” said Lee’s attorney, Allen Ball, who filed the civil suit Dec. 27 in Ventura County Superior Court. “Target didn’t do that.”

Target spokeswoman Patty Morris said she was aware of Lee’s lawsuit, but said the company does not comment on pending litigation. She defended the Minneapolis-based company as having a fair policy allowing for sick time and family leave.

“In many instances, our policy is as generous or more generous than federal and state law,” Morris said.

In an interview Thursday, Lee, an Oxnard resident, said she worked at the Target store in Camarillo for more than two years, when she became pregnant with her first child. She was a manager in the jewelry section, Lee said, and never had any attendance or disciplinary problems. Lee said she gave birth to Hailey in November 1999, and took about six weeks’ maternity leave before returning to work in the middle of January.

A few weeks later, her baby became ill. Lee said she asked her employer if she could have time off to take care of the infant, and a company representative approved the request, the suit says. After a week off, Lee told a Target supervisor on Feb. 11 that she was able to go back to work. But the company did not place her on the schedule, according to the suit.

Lee said she went to the doctor’s office for a checkup in early April and was told that her medical insurance had been canceled. She called Target and learned that her employment had been terminated on March 23.

After she lost her job, she fell into debt and had to get rid of her car, Lee said. She looked for a new retail job, but it took five months before she found one.

During that time, she received unemployment checks of about $500 a month. Lee is now working as a sales clerk at Payless ShoeSource in Oxnard, but said she earns nearly $2 less per hour than at Target.

Target spokeswoman Morris said she doesn’t believe the company would fire or discipline employees for taking time off to care for their children.

But disciplinary actions could be taken if employees don’t follow procedure and policy.

“If she was not within the policy guidelines, then I imagine there could be some ramifications,” Morris said.