Law360 published an interview yesterday with the EEOC’s General Counsel David Lopez in which he candidly predicted the areas of the anti-discrimination laws in which the EEOC will be filing future lawsuits.  First, he said, he wanted to see more Equal Pay Act cases, as well as more age-related cases, given the aging population.

Additionally, he cautioned employers that pregnancy discrimination cases, “which are pretty easy and straightforward,” are on the EEOC’s radar (as well as retaliation cases).

As if to underscore his cautionary message, yesterday the EEOC sued a Holiday Inn franchisee in Mississippi for alleged pregnancy discrimination.  The EEOC charged that the company hired a woman as a desk clerk and when it found out on her first day that she was pregnant, she was fired in favor of another woman, who was not pregnant.

Question:  we have not yet seen the complaint, but we wonder how the company knew (or the EEOC for that matter) that the replacement clerk was not pregnant – did they ask her?

P.S.  G.C. Lopez also noted that the increase in disability cases filed by the EEOC over the last 3 years was “probably by design,” because he wanted to “really give life” to the ADA amendments.

See EEOC v. Jiji Inc., 3:13-cv-00212, N.D. Miss.