Oops!...Rejected again! MS Supreme Court declines to create exception

Recently, the Mississippi Supreme Court considered the issue of exceptions to Mississippi’s employment at-will doctrine. This time, Brittany Spiers (not that one!), who had been terminated from employment, sought to have the court recognize an exception to at-will employment for discrimination claims already prohibited by Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The court rejected the request, and in doing so, avoided creating separate state employment discrimination claims. Let’s take a closer look.

Facts

Brittany Spiers worked for Oak Grove Credit, LLC (OGC), a creditor business located just outside Hattiesburg, Mississippi, until February 2019. At that time, OGC terminated her for reasons she alleged were discriminatory.

According to Spiers, OGC terminated her because of her gender and her pregnancy. Specifically, she alleged her supervisor raised concerns about her pregnancy in regard to work and childcare and even called her pregnancy a “disease.” She also alleged her supervisor declined to hire another person because that person was pregnant.

Spiers filed discrimination charge with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and in February 2020, she filed a complaint in the circuit court of Lamar County, Mississippi, alleging pregnancy and sex discrimination under Title VII. She also alleged her termination violated Mississippi public policy.