AG: Company to pay $5.6M for pregnancy discrimination in Puyallup and across WA
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- O’Reilly pays $5.6M and will compensate about 50 Washington workers.
- State found systematic failure to provide pregnancy and postpartum accommodations.
- Company must train staff, adopt policies, and report compliance biannually.
O’Reilly Auto Parts will pay $5.6 million after pregnant workers in its Washington stores – including its Puyallup distribution center – allegedly faced discrimination and retaliation related to their pregnancies.
According to a news release from the Washington State Office of the Attorney General, the company violated state law “by systematically failing or refusing to provide pregnant and postpartum workers with reasonable workplace accommodations.”
“The complaint also alleged O’Reilly managers retaliated against workers who requested accommodations, including by threatening them with forced leave, termination, or making them return from parental leave early,” the release said.
In August 2023, the attorney general’s office filed a complaint against the Missouri-based company, with the trial set to start on March 16, 2026.
“During litigation O’Reilly admitted that it had not trained its Washington management and human resources staff about the requirements of Washington’s Healthy Starts Act, which mandates that employers provide reasonable pregnancy-related accommodations,” the release said. “O’Reilly has now agreed to implement training and adopt new policies and practices that will ensure that the rights of its workers will be honored.”
O’Reilly Auto Parts has 170 stores in Washington state across 29 counties, the release said.
Sonya Cox, spokesperson for O’Reilly Auto Parts, denied the allegations against the company in an email to The News Tribune.
“O’Reilly Auto Parts maintains it has not discriminated or retaliated against or failed to accommodate any pregnant team members in the State of Washington, and also maintains its policies and practices did not violate the Healthy Starts Act or the Consumer Protection Act,” Cox wrote. “O’Reilly Auto Parts has agreed to a Consent Decree, without an admission of guilt or liability, so its efforts and resources can be more appropriately channeled into its longstanding team member safety and wellness training.”
Cox said the company’s policies “prohibit discrimination based upon pregnancy and childbirth, provide reasonable accommodations for pregnancy-related restrictions and breastfeeding, and prohibit retaliation if team members exercise their rights under the policy.”
“Leaders who do not respect this policy face progressive discipline, up to and including termination from the company,” Cox wrote. “O’Reilly Auto Parts wants its team members to be able to joyfully welcome healthy babies into their families. For more than a decade, it has contracted with its health insurance carrier for a program called Healthy Pregnancies, Healthy Babies, which not only encourages team members to seek early and regular prenatal care, but also offers monetary incentives for doing so. Additionally, the company sends gifts to team members who welcome a new baby.”
In the state news release, former worker Ivannah Trinidad said she worked at the company’s Puyallup distribution center while pregnant in 2022 and 2023.
“She said that when she experienced bad cramps and provided a doctor’s note saying she should not lift anything heavier than 15 pounds, O’Reilly management continued to assign her work that exceeded her restrictions,” the release said. “When she reported being in pain and requested breaks to sit and rest, her supervisor told her to push through, sometimes not even allowing her to take her standard breaks.”
Trinidad said the lack of accommodation “caused her baby to drop,” forcing her to go on leave early. After she delivered the baby, she said she asked management for one or two weeks of extra leave to care for her sick infant, and that management refused, forcing her to resign.
Rachel Venefra “worked at several O’Reilly store locations from 2013 until 2022 in southern Washington state,” according to the release, and was not allowed to sit down when customers were around.
“She often had to lift heavy items against the advice of her doctor, and in violation of the Healthy Starts Act,” the release said. “She later found out that her daughter had suffered an in-utero stroke, which impacted her child’s brain, a lasting health issue that Venefra said she thinks is connected to blood clots caused by heavy lifting.”
In Cox’s email, she said many team members from O’Reilly Auto Parts stores in Washington state believed the company respected them during their pregnancies, and were prepared to testify in court. Cox included a quote from Chrissy Dain, a team member who works at a store in the Seattle area.
“My DM [District Manager] and team members were very supportive during my pregnancy. My team members were always ready to help if I needed it,” Dain said. “My District Manager was always telling me not to overdo it and worked with me regarding my appointments.”
About 50 workers who were discriminated against will receive compensation “under a $5.6 million decree between the employer and the State of Washington,” the AG’s release said.
The decree also requires O’Reilly to do the following in their Washington locations:
- Implement a pregnancy accommodation and anti-discrimination policy and explain rights to pregnant and nursing employees.
- “Modify its automated human resources system to include a link to its Washington policies and procedures for any employee in the state who requests an accommodation,” the release said.
- Implement policies for managers and human resources staff, informing them of these laws and accommodations.
- Require O’Reilly to “consult the accommodations department prior to issuing any disciplinary action against an employee who has requested an accommodation,” the release said.
“For the next four years, O’Reilly will provide the AGO with biannual compliance reports which will include a description of any pregnancy discrimination complaints made by a Washington employee and will indicate whether the worker’s employment was terminated while their accommodation request was pending, so the AGO may ensure O’Reilly complies with state law,” the release said.
Workers experiencing pregnancy-related discrimination can submit a complaint by calling 1-833-660-4877 or submitting a pregnancy accommodations complaint form on the attorney general’s website.
Editor’s note: This article has been updated to include a statement from O’Reilly Auto Parts.
This story was originally published March 5, 2026 at 5:52 PM.
