# Kicked out of local college hot tub due to pregnancy!!



## Thandiwe (May 14, 2007)

I guess I am looking for feedback regarding what kinds of legal protection I have (none I'm sure) regarding pregnancy in MI. Yesterday while my children were at our local college for swim lessons, I brought a complaint to the pool coordinator. It wasn't anything they were doing wrong, but that quickly changed when the director said something very out of line. I looked at her and stated just that, that I thought what she had said was uncalled for and should have been refrained from. She got even uglier, and then today began retaliating. I had offered an apology for my part in the escalation yesterday, which was scoffed at and not even close to met in the middle. In fact, all day our family was singled out in the pool. My children were scolded for the craziest things, and I was actually KICKED out of the hot tub for being visibly pregnant (the fools even admitted this to me!!). I have been in the hot tub there in the past and am well aware of the risks/etc. They post openly on their website that the temp is 102. They do not list in their online rules that pregnant women are forbidden to use it. And OTIS (Organization of Teratology Information Services) states that the risk to a first trimester mother occurs at temps over 102-104 degrees. They also state that short term usage (ten minutes or less) past 6 weeks of pregnancy is not associated with further risk. These are all points I brought up to the ill-informed lifeguards who were kicking me out. They thought it was all about blood pressure... To which I noted to them how their sign states "do not use" for high blood pressure as well. So, I asked them, do you screen blood pressure prior to admission to the hot tub? Obviously, no. So why should I be singled out when they are giving the discretion to the other patrons who may have other med conditions.

I was so upset by the whole situation. Sure enough, that same trouble-some director came waltzing out to have a pow-wow with her lifeguards over the situation. I have no interest in approaching her as I know where it will go; the last time I did this happened. There is a supervisor above her, and I intend to contact her with a formal letter complaint, along with the university itself. But I need to know if there is any law I can cite regarding pregnancy discrimination. I have found the Pregnancy Discrimination Act but that appears to only relate to employment. I've cited and directly quoted their website and my research through OTIS in a letter I'm starting.

Any tips?? I was thinking about a letter to the editor of our local paper regarding the discrimination but want to deal with the college first. However, I'm concerned my kids will now be even more "black-listed" because of my actions. But how can I sit back and be discriminated against? I feel it's not right; I have the right to be informed (which the lifeguards aren't even) and therefore make my own decisions based on my own risk and liability. They wouldn't dream of checking the blood pressure of someone who obviously has known risk factors for high blood pressure. It would be a legal nightmare for them to approach an elderly or gross obese patron and ask to check blood pressure to be sure they can utilize what they clearly label the "therapy pool." Why is it any different if I am visibly pregnant?

For the record, I never actually agreed that I was pregnant. I'm considered "overweight" in bmi, so it could go either way when you look at me. They drew that conclusion on their own.


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## MommaKitten21 (May 12, 2009)

I don't have much advice for you except that I feel you should be able to get somewhere with the bigger boss. I work at a bar, and the first thing we were taught in training was even though there are major risks, we still have to serve pregnant women if they order an alcoholic drink from the bar! It's simply not our place to judge what someone does regarding their baby .... it's the same principle with the hot tub IMO.


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