South MS waitress was pregnant. Restaurant found out and fired her, lawsuit says
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- EEOC sued Cosmos restaurant for firing a server due to her pregnancy
- Lawsuit alleges Civil Rights Act and Pregnancy Discrimination Act violations.
- EEOC seeks damages and court order to end pregnancy-based workplace bias.
A Bay St. Louis restaurant violated federal law by firing a server because she was pregnant, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission alleges in a lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Gulfport.
Cosmos restaurant on North Beach Boulevard in downtown Bay St. Louis, operated by Smoke BBQ LLC, is accused of violating the Civil Rights Act, which includes a section covering pregnancy.
The server, identified only as the “charging party” in the lawsuit, applied for a job on Nov. 3, 2023, and went to work five days later, on Nov. 8. The lawsuit says the server did not disclose her pregnancy when applying for the job.
A news release from the EEOC says restaurant managers found out about the server’s pregnancy the day after she started work and fired her a day later.
A representative of Cosmos, which serves breakfast and lunch, could not be reached Wednesday afternoon about the lawsuit. The lawsuit represents only one side of the case and the company has not yet had time to file its response.
EEOC outlines pregnancy discrimination case
“Federal law guarantees that pregnant women have equal employment opportunity, absent undue hardship,” Marsha Rucker, regional attorney for the EEOC’s Birmingham District, says in the news release.
Before filing the lawsuit, the news release says, the EEOC attempted to settle the federal violation through its conciliation process.
The EEOC is seeking an unspecified amount in damages to compensate the server for her termination, including back pay, costs for a job search and pain and suffering. The lawsuit also seeks punitive damages against Cosmos for “malicious and reckless conduct.”
Presiding Judge Taylor McNeel is being asked to order Cosmos managers and any others affiliated with the business to cease sex-based discrimination, including against pregnant employees.
“Unfortunately, employment discrimination against pregnant women is a problem that persists in American workplaces,” EEOC Birmingham District Director Bradley Anderson says in the news release. “When employers deny equal employment opportunity because of pregnancy, the EEOC will hold them to account.”
This story was originally published September 18, 2025 at 5:00 AM.
