COLUMBUS (TDB) -- Most Americans remember Sept. 11, 2001 as one of the worst days in history. Susan Asmo has other reasons not to forget 9/11 -- she found out she was pregnant with twins.
On Monday, a federal appeals court in Cincinnati said the Columbus-area mother was wronged when her pregnancy-discrimination lawsuit was tossed out of court by U.S. District Judge George C. Smith. Asmo claims she lost her job because of her babies. The 6th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals reinstated her lawsuit against Keane Inc., a Massachussetts firm that provides information technology and business consulting services to corporations, governmental agencies and healthcare facilities across the U.S. (Case No. 05-3818.) Asmo's duties were as a selling, general and administrative recruiter.
Asmo announced she was expecting twins in October 2001. She was canned that December.
Boston-based Keane denies that it let her go because of the pregnancy. It blamed business conditions. The U.S. economy slowed after the terrorist attacks.
The appeals court said the events of her termination appeared suspicious and questioned an executive's explanations for sacking the mom-to-be.
''It appears that [he] offered any and all reasons he could think of to justify his decision to Asmo, whether or not they were true," the appeals court said. ''Once a lawsuit was filed and Keane knew the reasons would be subjected to scrutiny it changed the justifications offered for Asmo's termination to include only those that were either circumstantially true or could not be as easily penetrated as false. This change of rationale is suspicious and is evidence of pretext."
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