A former Target Corp. employee has reached a tentative settlement in her lawsuit alleging she was forced to resign in 2024 after a series of events that began when the Yorba Linda store director treated her poorly and denied her promotions after the plaintiff became pregnant and continued when she sought lactation accommodations.
Isabelle Loera also maintained in her Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit that she was later pressured to take a different job that required her to work in multiple stores in Los Angeles and Orange counties lacking in private areas to breastfeed. On Friday, her attorneys filed court papers with Judge Daniel S. Murphy notifying him of a “conditional” settlement in the case with the expectation a request for dismissal will be brought by Dec. 5. No terms were divulged.
In their court papers, Target attorneys denied Loera’s allegations and cited multiple defenses, including violation of the statute of limitations and that any actions taken concerning the plaintiff were “motivated by legitimate, non-discriminatory, non-harassing and non-retaliatory reasons and/or as a result of business necessity.”
According to her suit, Loera was hired in October 2019, and in April 2023, the plaintiff became pregnant and told the Yorba Linda store director. Loera contended that the manager was not supportive of women workers who were expecting and that the director dismissed the plaintiff’s inquiries about promotions, citing her pregnancy.
Loera maintained that the director became more hostile to her after she returned from maternity leave and pressured the plaintiff into taking a different job that required her to work at stores in Los Angeles and Orange counties, none of which provided appropriate lactation accommodations, the suit filed Dec. 30 stated.
“These included rooms with broken locks, large windows with no coverings and areas used for storage,” according to the suit. ” Often, her privacy was violated when employees entered without notice, leaving Loera exposed and vulnerable.”
On other occasions, Loera had to crouch behind furniture or monitors to shield herself from large, uncovered windows during her lactation breaks, according to the suit.
While at the Santa Fe Springs store, she used a fitting room and first cleaned a surface with wet wipes. However, when Loera sought to wash her hands so as not to contaminate her milk, the break room sink had no soap, the suit states.
“Unable to take her lactation breaks in these conditions, Loera had reached her breaking point after months of systemic failures to provide safe and sanitary accommodations,” according to the suit, which added that Loera resigned in frustration in November 2024.