A heart breaking case from Ohio has caught attention to workplace flexibility and how companies respond to employees in vulnerable situations. It is about a working mother whose new-born baby died shortly after birth, following a denied request to work from home during a high-risk pregnancy.
Jury awards $22.5 million in damages
Five years after the incident, an Ohio jury awarded $22.5 million in damages to the newborn’s estate. According to the lawsuit, Chelsea Walsh had undergone a medical procedure on her cervix to prevent early labour. Just days later, on February 15, 2021, she asked her employer, Total Quality Logistics (TQL), if she could work from home.
Instead of approving the request, the company gave her a difficult choice. As stated in the lawsuit, “TQL presented Walsh with an impossible choice work at the office and put additional strain on her child, or take an unpaid leave of absence and lose the income and health insurance she needed.” Faced with this situation, Walsh returned to the office on February 22.
A sudden and devastating turn of events
Just two days later, on February 24, Walsh went into labour. She gave birth to a baby girl, Magnolia, much earlier than expected. The lawsuit describes the moments after birth, “Magnolia had a heartbeat, was breathing, and exhibited fetal movement.” She was placed on her mother’s chest. Tragically, “Magnolia died in Walsh’s arms approximately one hour and thirty minutes later.” Walsh was only four to five months pregnant at the time.
In a painful twist, Walsh was informed on the same day she gave birth that her request to work from home had finally been approved. According to the lawsuit, the decision came after her husband reached out to a human resources contact, who then escalated the issue to a senior executive at TQL
Legal arguments and company response
Walsh’s legal team argued that she had followed her doctors’ advice and made a reasonable request. “This is a heart breaking outcome for a young family,” said her lawyer to NBC. “The evidence showed that Chelsea Walsh was following her doctors’ instructions for a high-risk pregnancy and simply asked to work from home.” He added that the jury agreed the denial of this request contributed to the baby’s death. TQL, however, disagreed with the verdict. A company spokesperson expressed sympathy but said they are reviewing their legal options and stand by their position.