The Importance of Timely Documentation

A finance company in Texas terminated an HR employee for performance problems. However, they only started the process after she informed her supervisor that she was pregnant. The company put her on a PIP for 30 days, gave her a 90-day extension, and then terminated her. She sued for pregnancy discrimination and retaliation. The retaliation claim was denied by the court on summary judgement, but the court ruled that the discrimination claim should go to trial by jury, stating that the lack of documentation prior to her notice of pregnancy made the termination motive questionable. Given the tendency of juries to be more sympathetic to employees than to employers, this is substantiation of the need for good, timely documentation.