Verdicts
May 12, 2007
'Pregnancy Brain' Comment Ends in $156,000 Settlement
SAN FRANCISCO - A woman who headed the municipal Building Inspection Department received a $156,000 settlement from the city stemming from comments at a public hearing that she was suffering from "pregnancy brain."
Daily Journal Staff Writer
SAN FRANCISCO - A woman who headed the municipal Building Inspection Department received a $156,000 settlement from the city stemming from comments at a public hearing that she was suffering from "pregnancy brain."
The comments were made during an April 2005 confirmation hearing for Amy Lee, who was then the department's assistant director. Lee's critics from a builders group attended the meeting and criticized her during public comment over what they said were her lack of qualifications for the job of acting director.
One speaker asked the building inspection commissioners, "Are you going to replace this man [department director James Hutchinson] with pregnancy brain?" Lee was then five months pregnant.
She subsequently filed a claim against the city with the state Department of Fair Employment and Housing.
Her attorney, San Francisco litigator Christopher Dolan, noted that state law requires employers to protect their workers from harassing conduct based on sex.
"They just sat there and watched her be humiliated and all women who are pregnant be denigrated," Dolan said. "Even the deputy city attorney was sitting there and didn't say a word."
Commenting on why he recommended the settlement, City Attorney Dennis Herrera said only, "This case was complicated by things that happened outside the public hearing."
Dolan pointed out that the meeting was rebroadcast on a public television station, which he called "an act of harassment."
He said he took the case partly because his own wife was pregnant at the time.
"I thought nobody should have to go through this kind of treatment," Dolan said.
The settlement, which the Board of Supervisors approved in April, calls for Lee to receive a cash payout of $21,693 for her suffering, 20 weeks of reinstated paid maternity leave valued at $67,540 and $66,800 in attorney fees.
Lee got the acting director's job and had her baby.
She had planned on taking maternity leave, but instead took vacation time and continued to work. She later said she had felt pressured by some members of the Building Inspection Commission to keep working.
After waiting almost a year to hear from city officials, Dolan threatened to sue for both the comments at the hearing and the subsequent pressure Lee says she felt to stay on the job.
The next day, city officials decided on the settlement.
Donna Dominon
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