Court: Pregnant casino worker’s firing not unlawful

Tuesday, July 26, 2005 | 9:27 a.m.

TRENTON, N.J. -- A casino that fired a woman whose problem-plagued pregnancy caused her to run out of leave time did not violate the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination in doing so, the state Supreme Court ruled Monday.

In a 4-3 ruling, the justices -- overturning a lower court's ruling -- said former Atlantic City Hilton employee Christina Gerety was treated no differently than other Hilton employees whose medical conditions caused them to miss more than six months of work in a year.

Writing for the majority, Justice Jaynee LaVecchia said that the leave policy was applied uniformly by the casino and that Gerety's firing did not constitute discrimination.

In a dissenting opinion, Chief Justice Deborah Poritz said the casino's policy -- while gender-neutral on its face -- discriminates against women.

"However laudable the employer's intentions, pregnancy is unique to women. That biological fact requires us to examine whether an evenhanded leave policy disadvantages women because they, and only they, will use leave for pregnancy-related conditions, thereby limiting its availability for medical conditions generally, a limitation never faced by men."

The case stemmed from a lawsuit filed by Gerety and her husband John, both of whom were working for the casino when she became pregnant with twins in 1997. Gerety planned to work through the pregnancy but could not because of complications and, on the advice of her doctor, asked for and was granted medical leave.