New York, Jan 2 (ANI): A woman from New York claims that when her boss found out she was pregnant with her third child, he gave her the choice of either undergoing aborting or losing her job, according to a federal lawsuit.
According to Catherine Rizzo from Long Island, there was no way to misinterpret her supervisor's ultimatum at Cooky's Deli in Bohemia in May.
"The owner's daughter pulled me in the office, and basically told me if I didn't have an abortion, I wasn't going to have a job," the New York Post quoted Rizzo as saying.
"It was very, very clear.
"I have two other kids I have to take care of, and I needed my job," she said.
Cooky's Deli owner Martin Marsilio, vehemently denied the allegation, calling it "a total lie."
The struggling single mom said she was barely getting by on the 400 to 500 dollars a week she earned at the deli counter and knew that she couldn't afford to lose her job.
"As a direct result of this serious threat, approximately one week later, I was forced to terminate my pregnancy," she said.
The 25-year-old filed a lawsuit filed on 19th December in Brooklyn federal court, seeking unspecified damages.
She said that the unthinkable choice capped months of harassment.
A co-worker regularly cursed at her, pushed her and told Rizzo she was "a lowlife and a bad mother," the Sayville woman claimed in her lawsuit.
She constantly complained to management, but nothing was done, Rizzo insists.
"I stuck through it all," Rizzo said.
"I stayed there because I needed my job, and I got the blunt end of the stick. I was trying to deal with it on my own," she said.
Despite the abortion, she was abruptly fired in August. Rizzo and her kids were evicted from their apartment, but she got a new job and a new place until, she claims, employees of Cooky's started showing up and taking pictures of her at work.
"They've kind of overturned my life. It's just not stopping. I'm just trying to keep my head above water," she said.
Her former boss claimed that Rizzo was canned for being chronically late, and she had never complained about harassment.
"We have had many female employees here that have gotten pregnant, had their children, took time off and came back to work," Marsilio said.
However, Marsilio admitted tracking Rizzo down to a new job so that he could prove to the state unemployment office that she was allegedly working off the books. (ANI)
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