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Am I Potentially Being Discriminated Against Because Of My Pregnancy/pending Maternity Leave?

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Location: Minnesota. Hello! I work in HR at a Fortune 500 company in Minnesota and have been here 9 years, 4 years in my current role. Before my first maternity leave in summer 2024, I never received negative feedback from my manager or the business unit I support. I returned in fall 2024, and during my annual performance review, I suddenly received a low performance rating and only a ~1% raise, with the only explanation being that I “didn’t resolve issues in a timely manner.” This was the first time I’d ever heard this feedback from my manager, and it felt out of nowhere. While I was upset, I moved on and made sure to correct this. I’m now pregnant again and due in March - my manager is aware of my pregnancy. Today my manager asked if they could speak with me. During that call, they told me they've been “thinking about my role” and they no longer see a need for it within the business unit I support. They said not to panic and that my skills might fit elsewhere in the company, but essentially my role is being eliminated. This is happening again so close to my maternity leave, and I can’t help but wonder if it’s related. I should also note there are other individuals in the same role as me that report to the same manager, but they support other business units and to my knowledge, their role is not being eliminated. I plan to seek legal advice, but before I do, I'd like to ask do the timing and circumstances of my performance rating and role elimination suggest potential pregnancy or maternity-leave discrimination under federal or Minnesota law? Is the way my manager handled the conversation about eliminating my role consistent with lawful business decisions, or does it raise red flags?

submitted by /u/Longjumping_Sun_3501
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