A North Vancouver woman who won a B.C. Human Rights Tribunal award after she was ousted from her job while pregnant said she hopes the decision sends a message to other employers.
Stephanie Lipp, 25, was awarded $9,500 after the rights tribunal agreed her former employer, Mavericks Sports Lounge in Vancouver, discriminated against her when she was pregnant.
Lipp said she's happy with the decision, although she described the win as more of a moral victory than a financial one.
"I just sincerely hope that any woman who's being treated like this, that she sees that it's possible to go in and win," said Lipp.
Lipp said she's been getting a lot of positive comment - especially from other women - since the decision was made public.
"A lot of the feedback I¹ve gotten has been 'Thank you so much for standing up for me,'" she said.
Lipp had worked as a waitress at the Vancouver bar and had a reputation as a good worker who was popular with customers, according to staff who testified at a B.C. Human Rights Tribunal hearing in August.
But after the bar sold to a new owner, in March 2013, Lipp's hours were drastically cut as part of a scheme to get her to quit.
David Lo, former manager at Mavericks, testified Lipp was an "asset to the company" and brought in business.
But he said the new owner Michael O'Connell "had an issue with the optics of having a pregnant server working in a bar he had just purchased."
While reviewing a staff list, Lo said when they got to Lipp's name, O'Connell placed his hands in front of his stomach in a gesture indicating she was pregnant. Lo said he was told to reduce Lipp's hours and tell her the schedule was "just being re-evaluated."
Another employee, a bar manager, also testified that O'Connell had asked, "What's with the pregnant girl?"
Robert Sanchez, former kitchen manager, also testified to overhearing arguments between O'Connell and another manager after O'Connell told her to get rid of Lipp because she was pregnant. Another time, he said he heard O'Connell yelling at staff to "get rid of that pregnant bitch."
When her shifts were cut back, Lipp asked to meet with the owner and told him she'd heard from multiple people that he was trying to get her to quit because she was pregnant. He denied that, ended the meeting and walked out.
At the hearing, Lipp testified she was angry and hurt when she heard that O'Connell wanted her gone due to her pregnancy, "especially because so many people knew, but did not speak up against it."
At the hearing, O'Connell testified, saying, "he felt there had been no discrimination" against Lipp, according to Human Rights Tribunal documents.
But tribunal adjudicator Robert Blasina didn't agree, awarding Lipp $2,000 for lost wages and $7,500 for hurt feelings.
After she was effectively dismissed, Lipp went to work more shifts at her other job at the BCIT's student pub, before going on maternity leave.
Her son was born in August 2013.
Today she is working at another East Vancouver pub and still working part-time on getting her degree in psychology from the University of British Columbia.
She said she hopes the ruling sends a message to business owners. "There was no reason for me to be gone other than the fact that I was pregnant."
