An Ohio-based company that initially balked at granting a mom’s request to work from home during a high-risk pregnancy has been found liable for the newborn’s death and ordered on Wednesday to pay $22.5 million in damages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Chelsea Walsh, according to her lawsuit, made the work-from-home request with Total Quality Logistics on Feb. 15, 2021, four days after undergoing an operation on her cervix to prevent her from going into early labor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Instead, the lawsuit states, \u201cTQL presented Walsh with an impossible choice \u2014 work at the office and put additional strain on her child, or take an unpaid leave of absence and lose the income and health insurance she needed.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Walsh returned to the office on Feb. 22, 2021.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Walsh, according to her lawsuit, gave birth to a daughter she named Magnolia on the evening of Feb. 24, 2021, the same day her manager at TQL told her the company “had reconsidered its decision to deny her requested accommodation” and allowed her to go home and continue working.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Magnolia had a heartbeat, was breathing, and exhibited fetal movement,” the lawsuit states. “Magnolia was placed on Walsh\u2019s chest so that Walsh could hold her. Magnolia died in Walsh\u2019s arms approximately one hour and thirty minutes later.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Walsh was between four and five months pregnant when she gave birth, the suit states.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The jury in the wrongful death case ruled in her favor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThis is a heartbreaking outcome for a young family,\u201d said one of Walsh’s lawyers,. Matthew C. Metzger of Wolterman Law Office in Loveland, Ohio. \u201cThe evidence showed that Chelsea Walsh was following her doctors\u2019 instructions for a high-risk pregnancy and simply asked to work from home.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“The jury found that TQL\u2019s denial of that reasonable request led to the death of her daughter,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
TQL spokesperson Julia Daugherty extended condolences to the Walsh family, but said the company disagrees with the verdict “and the way the facts were characterized at trial.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“We are evaluating legal options and remain committed to supporting the health and well-being of our employees,\u201d said Daugherty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Walsh was finally allowed to work from home after her husband, Joel Walsh, spoke about his wife\u2019s plight with his company\u2019s human resources manager, who is friends with a top executive at TQL, the suit states.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That manager, who is not named in the lawsuit, notified the TQL executive about Walsh\u2019s situation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThank you,\u201d the TQL executive said, according to the lawsuit. \u201cYou just saved us a lawsuit.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n