ATLANTA — Guice Services, Inc., doing business as Rooter ProXpress, a plumbing services provider across the Atlanta metropolitan area, violated federal law when it fired a customer service representative because of her pregnancy, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) charged in a lawsuit announced today.

According to the EEOC’s lawsuit, the employee suffered from medical conditions related to her pregnancy, including high blood pressure, nausea, and round ligament pain. In May 2024, she informed her direct supervisor that she would need to take the following day off to tend to her symptoms. The next day a Rooter ProXpress manager expressed a desire to “get rid of” the representative because she was “pregnant and having a baby,” and Rooter ProXpress fired her.

“Firing an employee because she is pregnant is indefensible and unlawful,” said Marcus G. Keegan, regional attorney for the EEOC’s Atlanta District. “Federal law plainly prohibits employers from firing employees because of their pregnancy.”

This alleged conduct violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended by the Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1978 (PDA), which prohibits discrimination because of sex, including pregnancy, childbirth and related medical conditions. The EEOC filed suit (EEOC v. Guice Services, Inc. d/b/a Rooter ProXpress, Case No. 1:26-cv-4040) in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia, Atlanta Division, after first attempting to reach a pre-litigation settlement through its administrative conciliation process.

Darrell E. Graham, director of the EEOC’s Atlanta District, said, “Pregnancy is protected in the workplace by federal law. The EEOC is committed to robustly enforcing employees’ rights during pregnancy.”

For more information on pregnancy discrimination, please visit https://www.eeoc.gov/pregnancy-discriminationhttps://www.eeoc.gov/pregnancy-discrimination.

The EEOC’s Atlanta District Office has jurisdiction over Georgia and the counties of Allendale, Bamberg, Barnwell, Beaufort, Berkeley, Charleston, Colleton, Dorchester, Georgetown, Hampton, Jasper and Williamsburg in South Carolina.

The EEOC is the sole federal agency authorized to investigate and litigate against businesses and other private sector employers for violations of federal laws prohibiting employment discrimination. For public sector employers, the EEOC shares jurisdiction with the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division. The EEOC also is responsible for coordinating the federal government’s employment antidiscrimination effort. More information about the EEOC is available at www.eeoc.gov.