O’Reilly Auto Parts ordered to pay $5.6M over discrimination against pregnant employees in WA

O’Reilly Auto Parts has been ordered to pay $5.6 million to more than 50 women across the state of Washington over the alleged systemic discrimination against pregnant employees within the company.

The women who faced discrimination and retaliation related to their pregnancies were employed at O’Reilly Auto Parts’ Puyallup distribution center.

According to a lawsuit filed by then-Attorney General Bob Ferguson back in August 2023, the company violated state law by “systematically failing or refusing to provide pregnant and postpartum workers with reasonable workplace accommodations.”

The Washington Attorney General’s Office stated that O’Reilly Auto Parts, a Missouri-based company, admitted that it had not trained its Washington management and human resources staff about the requirements of Washington’s Healthy Starts Act, which mandates employers to provide reasonable pregnancy-related accommodations.

“In Washington, employers must provide accommodations to pregnant and postpartum employees to protect their health and their babies,” Attorney General Nick Brown said. “I’m proud of our team for fighting so hard to ensure compensation to the women whose rights were violated, and to protect the rights of future O’Reilly employees across Washington state.”

O’Reilly Auto Parts’ discrimination against pregnant employees

The alleged behavior included barring pregnant employees from sitting or resting, not limiting how much they lift, making them handle hazardous materials, not allowing flexibility for restroom breaks, and failing to allow pregnant employees to pump breastmilk for their newborn babies after returning to work postpartum.

“Pregnant Washingtonians should not have to choose between healthy, safe pregnancies and their livelihoods,” Ferguson said when his office filed the lawsuit in 2023. “My office will hold O’Reilly and any other employer accountable when they violate the law and endanger the health of their employees and their babies.”

The attorney general’s office first opened an investigation into O’Reilly Auto Parts after receiving two separate complaints from pregnant employees within a few months of each other. Ferguson and his team soon uncovered limited records for at least 134 pregnancy accommodation requests between January 2019 and February 2023 in Washington.

Ferguson also claimed O’Reilly managers routinely engaged in retaliation against the women who sought them by demoting them, threatening termination, and forcing them to take unpaid leave or quit altogether.

“I’ve been employed with O’Reilly Auto Parts since the summer of 2019. In January of 2023, I found out I was expecting my daughter, due September 29,” a former employee said during Ferguson’s press conference. “In February of 2023, I went to my store manager and asked to be transferred to another store due to being stressed out in the store I was in.”

But just two months later, she was assigned to a job that was above her weight restrictions, putting the safety of her and her baby at risk.

“After trying to remove an (item) that weighed over 50 pounds, I rushed myself to the ER to make sure my baby was OK,” she continued. “That was my breaking point. I told my manager if you do not transfer me, then I would be sending in my two weeks right there.”

She was finally transferred, but it was too late. After suffering from stress-induced illnesses daily while working at O’Reilly while pregnant, her unborn child died on June 12, 2023.

“Having a healthy and safe pregnancy is critical for both the baby and mother, and it’s reasonable to expect employers to accommodate that,” Sen. Karen Keiser said during the press conference. “Women shouldn’t have to choose between being able to work and provide for their families, and having a healthy pregnancy.”

Kaiser sponsored the Healthy Starts Act, which enshrined pregnancy accommodations into state law.

“While nearly all employers follow the law and do right by their pregnant workers, in the rare cases where they don’t, we need to act,” Keiser added. “I want to thank Attorney General Ferguson for taking this important enforcement action.”

At least 22 women came forward with reports of suffering physically, emotionally, or financially as a direct result of alleged actions from O’Reilly’s management staff. Several women said they were subject to verbal harassment for taking breaks to sit or use the restroom.

According to the attorney general’s office, at least two women said managers hid the stools they used during breaks to rest, including one who was diagnosed with gestational diabetes and blood clots in her legs. One of the women claimed an assistant manager admitted to the retaliatory action.

Several pregnant employees said that after they gave birth, multiple managers coerced them into returning to work before the end of their scheduled maternity leave.

As a part of the agreement, for the next four years, O’Reilly Auto Parts must provide the Washington Attorney General’s Office with biannual compliance reports which will include a “description of any pregnancy discrimination complaints made by a Washington employee and will indicate whether the worker’s employment was terminated while their accommodation request was pending, so the AGO may ensure O’Reilly complies with state law.”

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