Firing pregnant women.

Should jobs be able to fire a woman for becoming pregnant? I'm probably talking about more high profile jobs, like actresses, modeling, etc., etc.
Take for instance, if Eva Longoria became pregnant, do you think the producers of Desperate Housewives should be able to fire her from the show?

Why? is there a clause in these contracts that you're not entitled to live your life and have your family as you see fit? How about they fire men too who get women pregnant?

Supernova wrote:Why? is there a clause in these contracts that you're not entitled to live your life and have your family as you see fit? How about they fire men too who get women pregnant?

There can be, depending on the type of character the woman is playing. If the character is built on the premise of being svelte, vampy, sexy (or wholesome, conservative and unmarried), then a pregnancy can get an actresses fired. The producers can say that her altered appearance conflicts with the image of the character.

If a woman is hired for her looks, then she knows what's up.

Marc wrote:If a woman is hired for her looks, then she knows what's up.

Sure, FOR her looks. But what about that story that schools are firing teachers who become pregnant? Their looks is the last thing the job calls for.

It is definitely two seperate topics...I mean the average woman in a job, vs. one in the public eye. I think that employers in the entertainment industry (those who employ actress/model types) should have it written in the contract what will happen if a woman becomes pregnant. I think they work with it (modeling probably being an exception) and write it into a show or conceal it. I am sure they fear lawsuit. Though, I bet many actresses on television have felt pressure from production to not get pregnant.

Ideally, no woman would be fired for being pregnant. But it does happen.

Supernova wrote:
Sure, FOR her looks. But what about that story that schools are firing teachers who become pregnant? Their looks is the last thing the job calls for.

What story is that? If a school teacher becomes pregnant and is terminated for it, depending on her work contract, she can most likely fight it in court. Actresses and models who're hired for a possessing a certain 'look' would face a harder battle (and it can lead to career suicide, as she may find herself blacklisted for going against the industry system.)

I can't find it now but it was on the MSN homepage last week. I didn't read the whole article but it said that the reason given was that basically pregnant teachers don't give their full attention to their work or something along those lines.

There were two stories in our area in the last five years for private church school teachers being fired for being pregnant out of wedlock. One was with a boyfriend, but the other was a huge deal in the media, as she had a sperm donor. That is unfair really, but if the schools have a conduct code with teacher contracts, that has to be laid out up front, not imposed after the fact.