Former Department of Corrections Employee Claims She Was Fired For Wearing a Tampon
A former employee at the Virginia Department of Corrections can move forward with a lawsuit that claims she was fired because the jail thought her tampon was contraband, a judge ruled Monday.
Joyce Flores alleged in a lawsuit that she was axed from her job as a dental hygienist in July 2019 after her colleagues mistook a tampon for contraband during a body scan at the facility, despite her repeated attempts to explain the situation.
“At no point did [Flores] bring or attempt to bring contraband into ACC. The reason provided by VDOC for the termination is pretext for sex discrimination. Plaintiff’s employment was terminated because she was a menstruating female utilizing a feminine hygiene product when she arrived to work on July 17, 2019,” the suit, filed in November, charges.
