HOUSTON - A Black woman alleging she was fired from her position in the University of Houston's legal department will get to proceed with two claims from her lawsuit against the school.
Houston federal judge Andrew Hanen on Jan. 14 dismissed one of three claims made by Martinique Burton, who alleges she was greeted with walking papers after missing work for a complicated pregnancy and subsequent maternity leave.
The only reason she was given for being fired on her first day back at work in June 2023 was that her "employment with Defendant had not worked out," she alleges. One claim she will be able to litigate is retaliation for taking Family and Medical Leave Act time.
It's an argument the University of Houston tried to fight by pointing at the resignation letter she signed, though she claims she was coerced and tried to rescind it the next day.
"These facts, read in the light most favorable to Plaintiff... state a plausible claim for adverse employment action by resignation in lieu of termination," Hanen wrote.
"Therefore, Defendant's motion to dismiss Plaintiff's FMLA retaliation claim is denied. To hold otherwise would give every employer license to skirt FMLA obligations by asking employees who exercise their FMLA rights to resign instead of terminating them."
Burton was an executive assistant in the Office of General Counsel at UH, having started there in April 2022. Months later, she informed the university she was pregnant, with her baby due in April 2023.
But medical issues with the pregnancy caused her to be admitted to the hospital several times. Burton offered to work from home but was denied, even though other pregnant women in the office who aren't Black were given this accommodation, she says.
In fact, a white woman serving as assistant general counsel worked from home for almost a month during her pregnancy and allowed to leave the office at noon after giving birth, she says.
Nevertheless, Burton had to use 17 days from her Family Leave Pool starting in March. Her maternity leave was also approved until June 26, 2023, and she repeatedly informed UH of her intention to return to work then.
Deputy General Counsel Jeffrey Palmer set a meeting with her on her first day back and informed her she was being terminated. She says she felt forced to sign a letter of resignation, and when she tried to rescind it the next day, UH refused to reinstate her.
She sued for FMLA interference, FMLA retaliation disparate treatment based on race. The first claim was tossed by Hanen but the other two remain.
UH had tried to plead, as to the civil rights claim, Burton failed to show other similarly situated employees of different races were treated differently. But Hanen said that matter is best left for a summary judgment motion.
"(S)he has... pleaded that her comparators were afforded work-from-home privileges while she was not, and, ultimately, were allowed to continue employment with Defendant," Hanen wrote.
"These pleaded facts make it plausible that she was treated less favorably than her comparators who were not in the protected class."
Ahad Khan of Houston represents the plaintiff.