Dive Brief:

• A former employee of Nasty Gal is suing the up-and-coming retailer, saying she was fired because she was pregnant. 

• Ex-employee Aimee Concepcion also says that, in addition to being fired because of her pregnancy, she didn’t receive the four months of unpaid maternity leave mandated by California law. She names other ex-employees, women and a man, who she says were similarly harmed.

• The company released a statement on the matter: “The accusations made in the lawsuits are false, defamatory and taken completely out of context. The layoffs in question were part of a larger restructuring of departments we completed over nine months ago. The lawsuits are frivolous and without merit.”

Dive Insight:

Nasty Gal’s defense here rests on the fast that the company had a few waves of layoffs and that the people mentioned in Concepcion’s lawsuit, including herself, were caught up in that restructuring, not fired for being pregnant or enlarging their families.

But the details matter, and, according to reporting, Nasty Gal could have misunderstand California law in this area. In any case, its women-powered, #GIRLBOSS brand will take a hit if it turns out that the retailer is making it difficult for its employees to have families.