Cosmetologist Sues Nail Garden After Allegedly Getting Fired Over Pregnancy
HERMOSA BEACH (CBSLA.com) — Officials Tuesday announced a licensed cosmetologist is suing a nail salon that allegedly fired her after she became pregnant.
Shana Wilson, of Gardena, filed the lawsuit with the Los Angeles Superior Court on Monday against Nail Garden and her supervisors, Marc and Sally Awad.
According to Wilson, she was hired by the Awad's in February 2014 to style hair, perform manicures and pedicures, and waxing services for her clients at the Hermosa Beach salon.
Wilson became pregnant just three months after she was hired.
The lawsuit alleges that she was harassed when she requested to no longer perform pedicures due to stomach pains that she experienced while bending.
In June 2014, Sally is accused of criticizing Wilson's performance, and reducing her work from full time to 32 hours per week.
Wilson also alleges she was forced to take clients during her breaks, and she was never provided with an itemized statement of the hours she worked and wages that were earned.
In August, Wilson spoke with Marc about taking her pregnancy leave. One week later, she was fired because of "several complaints on her nail work," according to the lawsuit.
She says she wasn't able to find another job, which made the months leading up to her son's birth very stressful.
Wilson believes she was wrongfully terminated due to her pregnancy, and her plan to take a pregnancy-related leave.
The lawsuit also alleges that failure to prevent harassment, retaliation, intentional and negligent infliction of emotional distress, and other employment-related occurred.
Wilson is seeking unspecified compensatory and punitive damages, along with an injunction that would prevent Nail Garden from "engaging in each of the practices complained of" in the lawsuit.
A representative for Nail Garden has not been reached for comment.
(©2015 CBS Local Media, a division of CBS Radio Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Wire services contributed to this report.)