For centuries women have been viewed as caretakers of their families, however, in the world that we live in today, this perception is slowly transitioning. Those times are past us when it was only a man’s duty to earn bread for his family. Women have been standing up to this role more and more, to the point where at some households women are acting as the primary earning member. For some women, it is about building their careers while for some it is about lending a helping hand to their partners, and that was the case of Lindsey Wilcox. Lindsey wanted to work in order to share the responsibility of making money with her partner and welcome her baby in a financially secure family. But things took an unexpected turn when Lindsey applied for the job of a waitress at a local diner.
The Unexpected News
Lindsey Wilcox, a resident of Lakeland, Florida, had worked several part-time jobs, after graduating from her high school. She pretty much had her life figured out but things took a turn when she received a piece of unexpected news. She was going to have a baby! This news meant so much to Lindsey but at the same time, it also meant that doing part-time jobs won’t suffice anymore.
The Boyfriend
Since the fall of 2017, Lindsey had been dating Felix Jimenez. Things were going great between them. Felix could not have been happier that they were expecting a baby. Even though Felix had been an immense support system for Lindsey, both emotionally and financially, they both knew raising a baby is expensive. Ultimately the both wanted one thing, to provide a stable home for their baby.
The Dilemma
Even though both Lindsey and Felix agreed on the fact that Lindsey should look for a job, they knew that finding a job would be difficult because Lindsey’s pregnancy will eventually make any form of work physically challenging for her. So she ultimately decided to find another part-time job. This way, on one hand, she gets to help Felix provide for their growing family, but at the same time, she can also focus on her pregnancy.
The Job Hunt
Lindsey began her search for a new job. To beat the odds, she applied at a bunch of places and sent out oodles of resumes and job applications. But despite her efforts, finding an employer who would hire a pregnant woman was challenging. Even if she managed to get an interview, her growing bump was hard to ignore and ultimately discouraged the employer to hire her.
Stressed And Defeated
After weeks of job hunting and no leads to work with, Lindsey felt defeated. The stress of not being able to provide for her baby was taking a toll on her health. Felix, on the other hand, was optimistic. He knew Lindsey was talented and will get a job sooner or later. Felix’s positivity kept her going and Lindsey decided that giving up is not an option.
An Opportunity
Following her relentless efforts for finding a job, one day Lindsey stumbled upon a great opportunity. She found an advertisement on her Facebook feed from the Reececliff Family Diner. They were looking to hire waiters and waitresses. Lindsey believed this was the perfect opportunity for her as she was already familiar with the diner and she was comfortable with the working hours as well. So she ended up sending her resume to the employer.
The Callback
After sending in her resume, Lindsey was eagerly waiting for a response. At last, Lindsey got the news she was waiting to hear. She got a callback and an interview was scheduled for her. The mother-to-be was delighted to get this chance. However, keeping in mind her experiences so far she decided it will be better if she is fully honest with her employer.
The Disclosure
Lindsey decided to tell the employer about her pregnancy thinking its better to keep things clear from the very beginning. She responded to the message that she can come for the interview followed by the fact that she is pregnant and in need of a job. She also stated that it has been difficult to find a job but she is willing to put in as much work as any other employee.
Canceled Interview
After the disclosure of her pregnancy, Lindsey was confident that her employer will appreciate her honesty. To Lindsey’s surprise, it had quite an opposite effect. The employer responded with a message saying she did not need to come down for the interview as the diner will not be going ahead with her hiring process. This news devastated Lindsey. She realized they saw her pregnancy to be a hindrance to their workplace.
No Explanation
The diner did not provide any explanation to Lindsey about why they canceled her interview. She was certain it was because just like every other employer, they did not want to hire a pregnant woman. But what baffled her, even more, was the fact that they did not let her interview. They refused to meet her straight away. She was regretful of her decision to inform them about the pregnancy.
Felix’s Reaction
Lindsey took a screenshot of the texts exchanged between her and the employer of the diner and sent it to Felix. Just like Lindsey, Felix was genuinely upset that the diner was so quick to turn away a potential employee just because she is pregnant. He knew Lindsey was an ideal candidate for the job. Felix was not going to sit around and let them get away with this.
The Social Media Storm
Felix decided to post the screenshot sent by Lindsey on his facebook. His caption read, “Let me just say this is wrong and I’m pretty sure illegal, and they won’t get another dollar from me.” Felix hoped that it would catch the attention of some locals and they would take note of how a family-run establishment could perform such prominent discrimination against a pregnant woman.
The Outrage
Just like Felix had hoped, pretty soon other users began to take notice of the post. His post did not remain within his circle. Within hours, hundreds of users had shared that post on their feeds. People were outraged by what happened to Lindsey and were talking about it everywhere on social media.
News Channels
With the outrage on social media, Lindsey’s story managed to catch the attention of the news networks as well. Fox-13, a local news network, covered her story and uploaded a video that ended up getting more than 2000 views. It wasn’t just the news channels, her story was covered by parenting websites as well.
A Viral Sensation
Lindsey’s story became a viral sensation within days. Felix’s post received over 650 shares, more than 200 reactions and close to 200 comments, most of them were from strangers. Those who were a part of the discussion about the photo were equally outraged by the actions of the diner. They believed their practice was exclusively illegal. The diner had to face a tremendous deal of repercussions because of their actions towards Lindsey.
The Response
With the growing backlash towards Reececliff Family Diner on different forms of media, the diner could not ignore it any further and finally sent a response. They posted an explanation on the official facebook page of the diner, with the hope that it would clear their name. Unfortunately, they made another critical mistake. To prove that Lindsey was unqualified for the job, they posted her resume which contained all her details, on facebook.
The Failed Attempt
The response that the diner posted was a failed attempt at fixing things. Instead of helping their case, it made everyone even angrier. This was a serious violation of Lindsey’s privacy. For the followers of the diner’s Facebook page, this post was an obvious failure. Many of the users who might have been inclined towards the diner, were now totally against them.
Need For Legal Action
Instead of gaining support from people, the diner ended up digging a hole for itself. People began to suggest Lindsey should take legal action because she had a strong case against Reececliff Family Diner on the grounds of discrimination and invasion of privacy. By posting her resume online, they had shared her personal information, like her address, the school she went to, the places she worked at, etc
Illegal Practice
Lindsey and Felix decided to look into this situation further. They found out that the employer went against the rules set by the diner by denying a pregnant woman a chance to work there. In Lindsey’s case, she was denied to even appear for the interview. If an employer denies a job to a person because of any personal reasons, it is recognized as discrimination.
Additional Inquiry
Employment Attorney, Raul Valles, validated that there are laws implemented by the state and federal government which address how an employer cannot dismiss a potential employee on accounts of their pregnancy. Employers should make their decision to hire a candidate by considering their previous work experience and their ability to do the job they are interviewing for.
Expecting Mothers
According to federal law, employers should ignore the fact that a woman is expecting and allow her to interview. Even with a baby on the way, this should not be a factor for any employer to discourage participation. Distinguishing in any such manner can do more harm than good for the employers. Because the potential employee has the right to sue the company on the account of potential wage loss and emotional damage.
Lawsuit
After looking into this matter and attaining the rightful information, Lindsey and Felix were both certain that they have a strong case against the diner. The actions of the diner employer had made them deeply upset. They started contemplating suing him as well as the diner. Many people encouraged Lindsey to go forward with this decision. They had a compelling case, and everyone was aware of it.
Happiness Amidst Chaos
Despite all the chaos which surrounded Lindsey and Felix’s life, they got one news that brought an abundance of joy in their otherwise disturbed life. An ultrasound revealed that Lindsey was carrying a baby girl.
Suspecting Motives
Lindsey and Felix had yet to decide whether they wanna sue the diner or not. Lindsey had many supporters in the community who rallied behind her for everything she had to endure because of the actions of the diner employer. However, there were a few who questioned her reasons for going after the Reececliff Family Diner.
Diner’s Advocates
Over the years, Reececliff Family Diner had become a popular spot for many people. As a result, the fans of the diner doubted if Lindsey’s reasons were genuine. They believed it is possible she was not being discriminated due to her pregnancy, in fact, she was rejected because she would not make a good employee. While some believed that she was doing this for attention.
Lindsey’s Reaction
All these allegations from the supporters of the diner made Lindsey upset. She was certain she was being discriminated against because she was pregnant. Lindsey knew she would make an excellent employee and just because she is expecting a baby does not mean she is less capable than any employee who is working at the diner.
Boycotting The Diner
While Felix’s post continued to get responses and support on social media, the locals decided to go a step further and boycotted the diner. People announced that they would no longer eat at the diner until problems were resolved. They did not want to be associated with a place that discriminated among its employees.
Reaching Out
More and more people began to boycott the diner and posted about the incident on social media. This resulted in the owner reaching out to Lindsey and settling this matter. According to the owner, it wasn’t him who responded to Lindsey’s social media. It was another employee who did it without any official authorization. He explained it was a simple misunderstanding and would be dealt with.
The Necessary Step
The owner assured that an incident like this would not have happened on his terms and he did not want the reputation of his diner to be tarnished by the actions of one employee. He promised that the employee will be trained in communication and educated properly about the laws and policies that the diner upholds.
A Staple In The Society
Over the past decades, Reececliff Family Diner had grown to become a staple in the community. The owner mentioned that they have been in business for over 16 years now, and have always followed proper legal procedures. He pointed out that they have never had any similar problem before and he would make sure it never occurs again with anyone.
Genuine Apology
The owner gave his sincerest apology to Lindsey, made sure she knew how sorry he is for everything she had to go through due to his employee. He told her he is completely on Lindsey’s side and assured her that they do not abide by any such rules which makes them discriminate against anyone for any reason whatsoever.
A Second Chance
The owner was regretful about everything that had happened with Lindsey. To make it up to her, he offered Lindsey a second chance to come and interview at the diner and have an experience that she had missed out on previously. He said that the decision of hiring her will be made undividedly on her experience and her performance in the interview.
Turning It Down
Lindsey appreciated the owner trying to make amends with her but she decided to decline his offer for another interview. She did not want any association with the diner that treated her poorly and just wanted to put this whole incident behind her. With her due date approaching, she just wanted to focus on finding another job.
False Media Coverage
With Lindsey’s story being featured news on so many platforms, some media agencies ended up posting false reports and stories about Lindsey on their pages. The post featured in the image above is a news article published by ZA Daily News, who claim that Lindsey identifies herself as a South African woman and ended up becoming a millionaire when she sued the diner. However, these false reports were shot down by other agencies and Lindsey’s name was cleared.
Time To Move On
After the chaos their life had been over the past few weeks, it was time for Lindsey and Felix to move on and look forward to the next exciting chapter in their life. They were done with the interviews and the press releases. The couple couldn’t be happier about the baby who was on her way. They used social media to document their journey and loved sharing it with their loved ones.
Welcoming The Baby
Lindsey and Felix welcomed their baby daughter into this world on 5th October 2018. They named her Trinity. Lindsey posted this picture when she turned 3 months old back in January 2019.
Happy Family
What happened with Lindsey was unfair and should not have occurred, especially at such a special time in her life. But she grew from that experience and now is a mother of a healthy baby girl. Lindsey found another job as a clerk at a retail store and had not felt the stress of not being able to support her daughter ever since.