Doughnut Plant Employee Says She Was Demoted, Then Fired For Being Pregnant

Mekhala Sofsky, a former supervisor for the popular New York City-based Doughnut Plant, has filed a discrimination lawsuit against the popular bakery, which fired her while she was on maternity leave, reports DNAInfo.

In a lawsuit filed on December 19, Sofsky alleges that the Doughnut Plant demoted her twice and cut her pay after she told her supervisors that she was pregnant.

"Up until I told them [that I was pregnant] I had been doing really well. No complaints, no issues whatsoever and then basically after I told them it started going south," Sofsky said.

"Nothing in my behavior changed except for being pregnant and having to deal with things differently."

At the time, Sofsky had been working for the company for more than a year, and had recently been promoted to personnel manager, overseeing two locations. Sofsky was later demoted from a salaried employee to an hourly one, and was told to manage just Doughnut Plant's Chelsea location.

Even still, the lawsuit alleges, Sofsky was blamed for not fulfilling tasks that were no longer part of her job. In one instance,  Mekhala was reprimanded "because there were insufficient supplies at the Grand Street location, even though she was no longer responsible for the store because of her demotion," according to DNAInfo.

Sofsky was then demoted a second time in December 2012, less than two weeks before her scheduled maternity leave, and was fired four months later.

According to the lawsuit filed, Sofsky is seeking to be rehired and compensated properly for emotional and physical damages.

"Doughnut Plant is a fair and flexible employer with a strong track record of family friendly policies," the company responded in a statement. "We proudly embrace diversity, adhere to both the spirit and the letter of the law with regard to pregnant women, and offer paid maternity and paternity leave."