Sea Island Resort in Georgia sued by former worker alleging she was fired because of her pregnancy

Caption

An aerial view of Sea Island, a privately owned luxury resort enclave next to St. Simons Island in Glynn County.

Credit: Carol M. Highsmith Archive, Library of Congress

A Florida woman has filed a federal sex discrimination lawsuit against a luxury resort company operating on the privately owned Sea Island in Glynn County, alleging that she was fired from a seasonal restaurant job because she was pregnant.

Kathleen Pinto wrote in her civil complaint against Sea Island Resort LLC that, about one hour after she informed a resort chef in July 2021 that she had recently learned she was pregnant, a supervisor called Pinto telling her to not go into work the next day at the Sea Island Beach Club's Snack Shack, claiming a reduction in staffing.

Pinto went on to write in her complaint that, soon thereafter, she spoke with a human resources representative at the resort, who told her that there was no staff reduction, and that the staffing agency which had made Pinto's job placement — Orlando, Florida-based APDC Cleaning Services — was still actively hiring for Sea Island.

Resort management contacted the chef manager, who in response stated that the resort “could not have a pregnant cook,” according to Pinto's legal filing, in which she also alleged that she was forced to leave her onsite housing and was rendered “effectively homeless,” with no way to return to Orlando.

The resort did not respond to GPB's request for comment on the lawsuit, which was filed in Brunswick federal court on June 18.

A similar lawsuit alleging the same incident was filed by Pinto against APDC Cleaning Services in Orlando federal court on June 17. The company did not respond to GPB's request for comment.

In both cases, Pinto is requesting backpay, financial damages and a jury trial, among other legal remedies.