The Tribune

By PAVEL BAILEY

Tribune Staff Reporter

pbailey@tribunemedia.net

A WOMAN claimed yesterday that her employer denied her request to work remotely, leading to a painful miscarriage.

Alana Major miscarried her son, Che Karson Major, on July 31, 2019, while working as the assistant vice-president of the Bahama Health Group division of Family Guardian.

She requested to work from home after her doctor recommended that she take bed rest because of her high-risk pregnancy.

She said Family Guardian offered her two choices: take sick leave with reduced pay and a doctor’s certification that she couldn’t work or continue working as usual.

 Yesterday, attorney Sharon Wilson, KC, claimed both options were unlawful. She argued that Family Guardian’s actions discriminated against a pregnant woman, which is prohibited under Section 6 of the Employment Act. She said the stress Mrs Major endured at work led to the intrauterine death of her son in the 23rd week of her pregnancy, hours after a company executive allegedly denied her remote work request while meeting with her.

 Mrs Major was responsible for 40-plus people and had extensive responsibilities.

 Robert Adams, Family Guardian’s lawyer, cross-examined her yesterday.

 The court heard that sometime in April or May of 2019, Mrs Major contacted Family Guardian’s president and vice president, Glen Ritchie and Dr Kerry Higgs, to tell them she was 12 weeks pregnant and had a high-risk pregnancy. She reportedly told them the pregnancy was significant to her husband, Terrell Major, and that she suffered a miscarriage in 2015.

 She reportedly created a business continuity plan with them, outlining how her duties would be handled during her pregnancy.

 According to the plan, senior Bahama Health team members would handle day-to-day duties during her absence, while Mr Ritchie and Dr Higgs would handle executive decisions.

 In June 2019, Mrs Major became ill and took eight days of sick leave after obtaining a medical certificate from her doctor.

 On June 11, 2019, she received an email from Dr Higgs verifying that the arrangements made for her absence would be met. 

 On June 18, 2019, she received a letter from her doctor recommending that she take bed rest for the remainder of her pregnancy and work from home.

 Mr Adams suggested that by using the word “recommended”, Mrs Major’s doctor was not certifying that she was unfit for work. Mrs Major disagreed that her doctor’s wording was ambiguous.

 She also disagreed with the suggestion that she did not interpret her doctor’s recommendation as a mandate to stop going to work. She said she did not immediately stop working because she wanted confirmation from her superiors first. 

 Mrs Major sent Mr Ritchie her doctor’s note on June 21 and requested leave to work remotely. However, she did not get an email response from him until June 27. Under cross-examination, she agreed that, between June 21 and June 27, she discussed scheduling a meeting with her superiors to address the issue further.

 She disagreed with the suggestion that Family Guardian wanted her doctor to clarify whether she should take sick leave, saying the doctor was clear she needed bed rest. She felt Dr Higgs disregarded her doctor’s recommendation.

 On July 9, 2019, the plaintiff visited her doctor and expressed distress and fears concerning the pregnancy.

 On July 31, 2019, she met Mr Ritchie in her office.

 She testified that she felt aggravated pain and oppressed during the meeting. She disagreed with Mr Adams’suggestion that her pain had nothing to do with her superiors. She also disputed that she decided to remain at work, insisting she couldn’t leave the job until the company activated their agreed-upon continuity plan.

 She agreed with Mr Adams that Mr Ritchie told her the company’s priority was her health. However, she claimed he said remote work was not in her best interest.

 She said she felt Mr Ritchie disparaged her during the meeting. She claimed he asked her to elevate her feet on a box in her office so it would be fine for her to come to work, advice she found belittling.

 She also said Mr Ritchie criticised her performance and claimed she didn’t answer his calls over the previous weekend.

 Mrs Major said she felt wretched and weak in the knees after the meeting. An ultrasound was performed during a subsequent visit to the doctor. She miscarried later that day and was hospitalized in the United States for haemorrhaging.

She no longer works at Family Guardian.

Under questioning from her lawyer, Mrs Major said she felt her unborn son move before the meeting with Mr Ritchie. She said when she visited the doctor afterwards, she could no longer feel the child move.

 She was comforted by her lawyer and family after testifying.