Woman rejects pressure from employer to have abortion

Gerona, Spain, Apr 12, 2010 / 10:11 am

A criminal court in the Spanish city of Gerona has sentenced a restaurant owner to 19 months in prison and ordered him to pay over $6,000 for pressuring a waitress to undergo an abortion in order to keep her job. The woman refused and decided to keep her baby.

According to the court, the restaurant owner insisted the waitress have an abortion after learning she was pregnant.

Europa Press reported that the ruling said the woman was “about to interrupt” her pregnancy but that after “many doubts,” she decided to carry her child to term.  When her employment contract was not renewed, she was presented with a pink slip without severance pay.

After assistance from a local union, she was given severance pay in the amount of approximately $2,500.  The union also provided the woman’s legal defense and called the ruling a “model sentence” in the fight against workplace harassment.

The court praised the woman's “high level of maturity” in response to the harassment, noting that the owner failed to adopt necessary measures to support her and was guilty of making the woman move heavy boxes, creating a “hostile” working environment.