ACLU Appeals Case Of Georgia Woman Fired For Heavy Period

ATLANTA, GA -- Alisha Coleman was happily employed at the Bobby Dodd Institute in Fort Benning as a 911 dispatcher when the sudden onset of a health issue irrevocably changed her life. She experienced two incidents in which she bled heavily due to her monthly cycle.

She had put nearly a decade into the institute, a job training and employment agency. Furthermore, she needed the job -- yet, she was fired, according to the American Civil Liberties Union. (SIGN UP: Get Patch's Daily Newsletter and Real Time News Alerts. Or, if you have an iPhone, download the free Patch app.)

The ACLU has taken on Coleman's case, filing a brief in the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals, the organization announced Thursday. The group alleges that Coleman faced workplace discrimination when she was fired for experiencing a heavy period, a symptom of premenopause.

In the first instance, Coleman soiled a chair when an unusually heavy flow occurred due to her menstrual cycle. Her employer warned her that if she damaged company property again, she would be terminated, according to court documents obtained by Patch.

The ACLU contends the company crossed the line when it tried to dictate Coleman's feminine needs.

“Employers have no business policing women’s bodies or their menstrual cycles,” Andrea Young, ACLU of Georgia executive director, said in a news release. “Firing a woman for getting her period at work is offensive and an insult to every woman in the workplace. A heavy period is something nearly all women will experience, especially as they approach menopause, and Alisha was shamed, demeaned and fired for it. That’s wrong and illegal under federal law. We’re fighting back.”

“Federal law is supposed to protect women from being punished, harassed or fired because of their sex, and being fired for unexpectedly getting your period at work is the very essence of sex discrimination,” said Galen Sherwin, Senior Staff Attorney at the Women’s Rights Project of the ACLU. “This kind of blatant discrimination against women in the workplace is why the ACLU Women’s Rights Project was founded 45 years ago, and why the fight for gender equality must continue.”

Like us on Facebook

The case was dismissed in February when the court ruled that Coleman didn't complain of discrimination before her termination. "And she fails to respond to the Institute’s arguments for dismissal of

her retaliation claim. To the extent that Coleman has not abandoned this claim, she fails to allege sufficient facts to support it," the ruling by U.S. District Judge Clay Land says

The ACLU's new brief argues that the district court erred in ruling that premenopause and sudden-onset heavy menstruation, which is associated with it, are not protected under Title VII.

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act specifically mentions that “pregnancy, childbirth, and related medical conditions" are protected from workplace discrimination, the organization said.

“I loved my job at the 9/11 call center because I got to help people,” said Coleman. “Every woman dreads getting period symptoms when they’re not expecting them, but I never thought I could be fired for it. Getting fired for an accidental period leak was humiliating. I don’t want any woman to have to go through what I did."

Image via Pixabay