Female Cop Gets $100K Settlement After Being Relegated to Tollbooth Duty While Pregnant

A female cop just received $100,000 in a settlement with the Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority after the agency dramatically changed her job duties while she was pregnant.

In 2008, officer Lori Ann DiPalo said she felt well enough to continue working as a cop for the Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority while she was pregnant. DiPalo also got clearance to continue work from her personal physician, but a TBTA doctor claimed a concern about the possibility of “abdominal trauma.” She was then given a choice by the TBTA: she could either do toll booth duty or take a disability leave. She was just 10 weeks pregnant. From the New York Daily News:

“Being pregnant here, it’s like wearing a scarlet letter ‘P’ on your chest,” said DiPalo in 2008.

The TBTA has agreed to pay DiPalo $100,000 in the settlement. Furthermore, the Brooklyn U.S. Attorney’s Office determined that the agency has shown a “pattern and practice of discrimination”; TBTA will award $106,500 in damages to 12 more female officers who were treated similarly while pregnant in the past.