But She Feels Fine Already

STOCKTON, Calif. (CN) - A woman claims in court that a Red Robin restaurant manager told her during a job interview to "go home, have her baby, rest and come back when she felt better."

Gina Loretelli sued Red Robin and Red Robin International in San Joaquin County Court.

Loretelli claims she told the interviewer, a kitchen manager, that she felt fine during the March 2010 interview, and that there was no reason she could not work as a of shift manager and bartender so long as she could pump breast milk on her breaks. She claims the interviewer told her she could not do the training while she was pregnant and could not pump milk.

Loretelli says she told a former co-worker, a senior manager at another Red Robin, about the interview. She returned to the restaurant 2 months later and asked to speak to general manager Mitch Kintner.

She says Kintner told her that he knew about the incident, that interviewer was wrong, and that she should bring in another application and her résumé. Kintner is not a party to the complaint.

Loretelli says she brought in her résumé in later that month and "waited about an hour until Mr. Kintner, who was in the room eating with other employees, came over. She re-introduced herself and handed the documents to Mr. Kintner, who said he would call her but never did," according to the complaint.

Loretelli says she tried again in September 2010 to get a job at Red Robin.

"She told the hostess that she wanted to talk to a manager and was told that there was no manager available to talk to her," the complaint states. "She then asked for an application. The hostess went to what appeared to be an office and returned to tell her there were no English applications available. Plaintiff gave the hostess her résumé and asked that she give them to a manager. Plaintiff did not receive any communication from defendants."

Loretelli seeks damages for sex and pregnancy discrimination, retaliation and failure to prevent discrimination and retaliation.

She is represented by Armand Skol with Arata, Swingle, Sodhi and Van Egmond in Modesto.

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