The federal lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida accuses BestBet Jacksonville, Inc., the largest poker room in Florida, of maintaining a strict policy requiring employees to resign if they missed two weeks or more of work without qualifying for Family Medical Leave Act protection.
According the EEOC's complaint, BestBet forced one woman with a high-risk pregnancy to quit in January 2025 after she requested to miss six shifts over a two-and-a-half-week period on her doctor's advice. The company forced another employee to leave in February 2025 after she requested leave to have her baby.
The alleged conduct violated the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, which requires employers to reasonably accommodate employees' known limitations related to pregnancy and childbirth, absent undue hardship, including accommodations requiring modification of leave policies.
"Federal law makes it unlawful for employers to refuse to make a reasonable accommodation for the known limitations of a pregnant worker, absent undue hardship," said Kristen Foslid, regional attorney for the EEOC's Miami District Office. "Employers must engage in an interactive dialogue with employees to find suitable accommodations, rather than simply denying the requests outright."
"In this case, multiple women requested and were denied reasonable accommodations," said EEOC Miami District Director Evangeline Hawthorne. "The EEOC will not hesitate to litigate cases where employers blatantly ignore federal law."
The EEOC filed the lawsuit after attempting to reach a pre-litigation settlement through its administrative conciliation process.