Myrtle Beach hotel mistreated pregnant employee, lawsuit alleges

A former employee of a Myrtle Beach resort is suing the company, saying she faced pregnancy and gender discrimination and was fired after reporting it.

Jasmine McCray filed the lawsuit July 29 against Caravelle Properties, LP, which owns The Caravelle Resort.

An employee with the hotel declined to comment Wednesday afternoon.

McCray started working for the company’s sister company Crown Reef Resort February 2017 before she was transferred to Caravelle Resort in 2020.

There, she applied for the human resources manager position at the recommendation of the resort’s general manager.

After McCray was hired, her supervisor began micromanaging her and treated her differently than her male counterparts and other employees who were not pregnant, according to the suit.

The lawsuit states that the director also commented to McCray about her pregnancy.

McCray asked to take two weeks off for maternity leave and then work remotely for 10 weeks before returning to the workplace. The director suggested McCray work the full 12 weeks provided under Family Medical Leave Act, adding she should not work from home since she would be tired and wouldn’t be able to handle working.

McCray was allowed work from home for ten weeks, but she was required to work in person one day of the week.

During her 10 weeks of remote work, her supervisor continued to micromanage her. McCray informed the CEO that the director “had been questioning her about her pregnancy, gave her a hard time about her maternity leave, and had stated that she would be replacing Plaintiff.”

In response, the CEO said he would follow up but never did. Instead, she was later fired for “substandard performance.”

But McCray never was disciplined nor received any complaints about her work, and she had positive evaluations, according to the suit.

It states McCray has filed a discrimination and retaliation claims with the United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the South Carolina Human Affairs Commission.

This story was originally published August 4, 2022 at 5:00 AM.