MIAMI — A federal court has dismissed a case filed by a South Florida woman who alleged she was discriminated against and fired by a hair removal salon chain due to her pregnancy.
According to a May 6 U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida filing, defendants European Wax Center Inc., and EWC Hollywood LLC asked the court for two motions to dismiss a second amended complaint filed by plaintiff Melina Ashley Ifill.
The case involved an August 2018 lawsuit filed by Ifill, a former employee of EWC, who alleged violations of Title VII, Americans with Disabilities Act, Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act or Age Discrimination in Employment Act by EWC.
Ifill alleged she was discriminated against and fired due to her pregnancy. According to Ifill's claims, once she revealed her pregnancy to the franchise owner, she was told that she looked "tired" and had "less energy," which resulted in her work hours being cut. The owner also disclosed Ifill's pregnancy to the entire staff.
A court dismissed Ifill's complaint without prejudice due to her lack of "facts regarding the nature of the claim." Ifill then filed an amended complaint based on violation of the Americans with Disability Act and was also issued "a right to sue letter" by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. A court then granted European Wax Center a dismissal of Ifill's amended complaint based on European Wax Center, the corporate franchiser, not being her employer and also for lack of "sufficient factual allegations."
Ifill argues European Wax Center had "a significant amount of control" in the hiring process as well as in the training of employees and daily operations of its franchises and that she was told the reason for her firing was due to decreased sales when, actually, the retail sales for the franchise had increased.
U.S. District Court Judge Beth Bloom stated that even if it were established that European Wax Center was Ifill's employer, she failed to show "that her employer treated similarly situated employees more favorably," which was needed for her Title VII violation claim.
Bloom also stated Ifill did not give a "plausible claim for discrimination and granted both motions for dismissal and ordered the case closed.