JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission filed a federal lawsuit against BestBet Jacksonville, Inc., alleging the company violated the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act.
The lawsuit claims Florida’s largest poker room failed to provide reasonable accommodations for pregnant employees and instead forced them to resign.
According to the suit filed in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida, BestBet maintained a strict policy requiring employees to resign if they missed two weeks of work and did not qualify for leave under the Family Medical Leave Act.
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According to a release from the EEOC, one employee with a high-risk pregnancy requested to miss six shifts over a two-and-a-half-week period in January 2025. Despite the request being made on the advice of her doctor, BestBet allegedly forced the woman to resign.
A second incident cited in the filing occurred in February 2025 involving another employee. That worker requested leave to have her baby, but BestBet allegedly forced her to leave the company rather than granting the accommodation.
“The alleged conduct violated the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA),” the EEOC says. The PWFA requires employers to reasonably accommodate employees’ known limitations related to pregnancy and childbirth, unless it would create undue hardship. This could include adjusting company policies, such as limits on taking leave.
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Kristen Foslid serves as the regional attorney for the EEOC’s Miami District Office. She emphasized that employers are legally obligated to discuss potential solutions with their staff.
“Federal law makes it unlawful for employers to refuse to make a reasonable accommodation for the known limitations of a pregnant worker, absent undue hardship,” Foslid said. “Employers must engage in an interactive dialogue with employees to find suitable accommodations, rather than simply denying the requests outright.”
Evangeline Hawthorne is the EEOC’s Miami District Director. She stated that the agency identified multiple victims during its investigation.
“In this case, multiple women requested and were denied reasonable accommodations,” Hawthorne said. “The EEOC will not hesitate to litigate cases where employers blatantly ignore federal law.”
The EEOC filed the lawsuit, Case No. 3:26-cv-00704, after first attempting to reach a pre-litigation settlement through an administrative conciliation process.
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