EEOC Sues Cosmos for Pregnancy Discrimination

MOBILE, Ala. - Cosmos, a restaurant in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi operated by Smoke BBQ LLC, violated federal law by firing a server because of her pregnancy, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) charged in a lawsuit announced today.

The EEOC's suit charged that in November 2023, the server told her colleagues about her pregnancy shortly after she started working at the restaurant. The next day, after Cosmos managers heard about her pregnancy, she was fired.

"Federal law guarantees that pregnant women have equal employment opportunity, absent undue hardship," said Marsha Rucker, regional attorney for the EEOC's Birmingham District. "The EEOC is proud to be the federal agency charged with enforcing this important legal right."

Such conduct violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended by the Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1978, which prohibits employment discrimination because of pregnancy. The EEOC filed suit in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi (EEOC v. Smoke BBQ LLC d/b/a Cosmos, Civil Action No. 1:25-cv-00278-TBM-RPM) after attempting to reach a pre-litigation settlement through its conciliation process. The EEOC seeks monetary damages including back pay, compensatory damages, and punitive damages as well as injunctive relief designed to prevent such unlawful conduct in the future.

"Unfortunately, employment discrimination against pregnant women is a problem that persists in American workplaces," said EEOC Birmingham District Director Bradley Anderson. "When employers deny equal employment opportunity because of pregnancy, the EEOC will hold them to account."

For more information on pregnancy discrimination in employment, please visit https://www.eeoc.gov/pregnancy-discrimination.

The EEOC's Birmingham District Office has jurisdiction over Alabama, Mississippi (except 17 northern counties) and the Florida Panhandle.

The EEOC is the sole federal agency authorized to investigate and litigate against businesses and other private sector employers for violations of federal laws prohibiting employment discrimination. For public sector employers, the EEOC shares jurisdiction with the Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division; the EEOC is responsible for investigating charges against state and local government employers before referring them to DOJ for potential litigation. The EEOC also is responsible for coordinating the federal government's employment antidiscrimination effort. More information is available at www.eeoc.gov. Stay connected with the latest EEOC news by subscribing to our email updates.