NJ mom: My babies died, I took time off, so I was fired
By any measure, Marybeth Waltz's story is a heartbreaking one.
A cancer survivor whose uterus had been removed, the Red Bank resident was unable to carry children, according to a website established to rally support for her family. Her twins were carried by their aunt instead — but born at just 28 weeks via an emergency C-section in 2013.
Jude Edward Lavery Walz and Thaddeus William Walz were each just a bit over 2 pounds.
Thad died a day later due to a pulmonary hemorrhage. His "last moments were spent in the perfect spot ... his mother’s arms," according to the page.
Jude — the page's namesake — struggled every day of his life. Doctors found a mass in his abdomen — infantile fibro sarcoma.
Supporters raised more than $12,000 to help his family pay medical bills. But months later, "after a long and very courageous fight," the page writes, Jude died. Like his brother, he was in his mother's arms.
Now, in a lawsuit, Walz alleges her employer wouldn't stand by her side in those tough times. The lawsuit alleges Verizon denied her paid maternity leave, and then terminated her when she filed for disability after her sons' deaths.
Verizon, for its part, won't say much about the particulars of the suit, as it's a matter of ongoing litigation. But spokesman Ray McConville said Verizon "strongly denies any claim of discrimination on this matter."
The lawsuit's language is sharp in places:
"Despite Verizon touting itself as a 'mother-friendly' workplace and 'creating a supportive work environment that grants equality to working fathers, working mothers, adoptive and same-sex parents and military families,' Verizon was anything but friendly to Ms. Walz," the lawsuit states. "Instead, it deprived Ms. Walz of the paid maternity leave it offered to other mothers, requiring her to exhaust her accrued vacation and paid time off to care for and bond with her children."
The lawsuit alleges the 17-year Verizon executive was demoted to the equivalent of an entry-level position when she took leave — first using accrued time, and then unpaid time off — to deal with Thad's death and Jude's ailments. It says she was fired when she took time off after Jude's death.
"Verizon’s response was shocking," the lawsuit states.
It says that when Walz told an HR representative that she wanted to take paid maternity leave, she was told she couldn't because she wasn't carrying the twins — even though the children were her biological offspring, and even though Verizon states on its website "Verizon offers new mothers time off so they can bond with their new child, whether that child joins the family through birth or adoption."
She was granted short-term disability for depression after the babies died, the lawsuit states. It says she eventually applied for long-term disability, granted in September of 2014, and told by the company's insurance provider she could return to her job or a comperable one once her condition improved — only to later be told she was being terminated.
The lawsuit states that when Walz learned she was fired "she could not believe what Verizon had put her through after her years of dedicated service."
It said that as of earlier this month when the suit was filed, she remained unemployed.
The lawsuit accused Verizon of violating the Family Medical Leave Act, as well as sex, pregnancy and disability discrimination.
A spokesman for Verizon could not be immediately reached Thursday but has been quoted in other media reports saying that while Verizon cannot comment on the case,
Neither Walz nor her attorney could be reached immediately Thursday.
The lawsuit is below:
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