Hobby Lobby Employee Says She Was Fired for Being Pregnant
Felicia Allen took the store to court, alleging she was terminated for trying to take unpaid time off to have her baby. But she signed away her rights to sue because of an agreement that says “Christians are not free to sue other Christians.”
Joe Raedle/Getty
By Sofia Resnick, Investigative Reporter, RH Reality Check
When a very pregnant Felicia Allen applied for medical leave from her job at Hobby Lobby three years ago, one might think that the company best known for denying its employees insurance coverage of certain contraceptives—on the false grounds that they cause abortions—would show equal concern for helping one of its employees when she learned she was pregnant.
Instead, Allen says the self-professed evangelical Christian arts-and-crafts chain fired her and then tried to prevent her from accessing unemployment benefits.
“They didn’t even want me to come back after having my baby, to provide for it,” she says.
Her allegations—as well as those brought by other former Hobby Lobby employees—call into question the company’s public claims when it comes to protecting life and operating its business with Christian values. Additionally, they highlight a practice by which Hobby Lobby prevents its employees from seeking justice through the courts.
Read the rest at RH Reality Check.