The plaintiff must prove her pregnancy was a “substantial motivating reason” for her termination, not merely a “motivating reason,” the California Court of Appeal has ruled, reversing a jury verdict in favor of the employee in a pregnancy discrimination case under the California Fair Employment Housing and Employment Act (FEHA). Alamo v. Practice Management Information Corp., No. B230909 (Cal. Ct. App. Sept. 5, 2013). In addition, the Court held the employer was not entitled to an instruction that it would have taken the same employment action regardless of the employee’s pregnancy, the “mixed motive” defense, because it failed to plead that defense in its answer.
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