‘No more babies,’ the boss told employees. They sued.

A Merced County orchid grower has agreed to pay more than $100,000 for threatening to fire pregnant employees, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission announced Monday.

Dash Dream Plant Inc. of Dos Palos will pay out $110,000 and make changes to its business polices as part of its settlement in the pregnancy discrimination lawsuit filed by the EEOC, according to a news release.

The commission thanked the flower growers for agreeing to make changes to its discriminatory police, according to Melissa Barrios, director of the EEOC’s Fresno Local Office. "The changes that will be put in place as part of this settlement will benefit not only women, but the workforce as a whole," she said in a statement.

The lawsuit brought on Sept. 20, 2016, by Yanet Perez was settled on Friday in a Fresno federal court, according to records.

In her complaint, Perez said she informed her manager, Boram Jung, she was pregnant in January 2014. The manager transferred the woman to another position. The following month, according to the complaint, management called a staff meeting in which President Tae-bin Jung told employees "no more babies" and "there are too many babies coming," instructing the workers to not get pregnant.

The company employs about 15 workers in its 140,000 square feet of greenhouses, according to the complaint.

That same month, the management forced Perez to go on leave, though she was able to work and wanted to continue working, the complaint said. After Perez had her child, the complaint said, she was not allowed to return to work though other people were being hired.

Perez was not alone as other pregnant women lost work, the complaint says.

In court documents, the company's attorneys argued Perez did not exhaust attempts to find work and was not acting in good faith. They also denied the employer threatened to fire anyone who got pregnant.

As part of its settlement, the company has agreed to end discriminatory practices and not to retaliate on anyone who has complained, according to court records. The company will also remain under the supervision of an EEOC monitor for five years.

Dash Dream further agreed to distribute the new policies to all employees and provide anti-discrimination training for both employees and management personnel, according to records.

The company was also commended for its decision to settle by Anna Park, regional attorney for the EEOC’s Los Angeles District, which includes Merced County in its jurisdiction.

The Dos Palos firm grows orchids for retail and wholesale buyers, according to the company's website, www.dashdream.wordpress.com.

This story was originally published October 16, 2017 at 4:54 PM with the headline "‘No more babies,’ the boss told employees. They sued.."