A popular seller of washable rugs, runners and mats was sued for pregnancy discrimination Wednesday by a former marketing director who alleges she was wrongfully terminated in 2023 because the working mother was not deemed to fit in with the company’s alleged round-the-clock work commitment culture.
Alexandra Hart’s Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit against Ruggable LLC also alleges gender discrimination, retaliation and failure to prevent discrimination and retaliation. Hart seeks unspecified compensatory and punitive damages.
A Ruggable representative did not immediately reply to an emailed request late Wednesday afternoon for comment on the suit, which describes Ruggable as a “buzzy, direct-to-consumer, venture-backed company” that in the company’s own words sells “beautiful, machine washable area rugs, runners and door mats.”
The complaint also includes a photo from the of Ruggable website of the company founder Jeneva Bell relaxing on one of the company’s washable rugs while embracing a yawning child and “projecting a family-friendly image.”
But of the some 30 leadership employees at Ruggable at the end of Hart’s tenure, all but one working mother was ultimately forced out, the suit alleges.
“Indeed, Ruggable has a pattern of demoting and terminating pregnant employees …and those with care obligations to family members, all of whom it regards as less committed because they deviate from the archetype of Ruggable’s ideal worker, someone who lives, eats and breathes work, with no outside commitment,” according to the complaint.
Hart was hired in 2018 and was promoted time and again, ultimately to a senior marketing position overseeing more than 50 employees who oversaw such areas as media production, public relations and influencer marketing, according to the suit.
However the work demand at Ruggable was so overwhelming that Hart missed health appointments and a chance to attend the World Cup, the suit states.
Hart became pregnant in 2021, took three months of maternity leave in 2022 and returned to work later that year, taking calls even while she was off work, the suit states.
In 2023, Hart’s work environment changed when her team was reassigned, the suit states. Hart also was told to report to a peer who turned on her because of her young baby and her inability to commit to the around-the-clock work culture that the company demanded, the suit further states.
The peer also placed Hart on a performance-improvement plan in which he concluded at the end that she had “not made the progress needed to move the needle forward on our brand strategy,” the suit states.
Hart was given the option of a demotion with a $65,000 pay cut and a performance-improvement plan or to leave Ruggable, leaving the plaintiff “shocked,” the suit states.
In October 2023, while pondering the choices, Hart was terminated and told Ruggable was making changes to the organization structure, the suit states. The plaintiff contends this was an excuse to cover up Ruggable’s alleged belief that women could be not be sufficiently devoted to the company while also being parents.
Hart has suffered lost earnings and experienced emotional distress since losing her job, the suit states.