pregnantA police officer in Florida was overjoyed when she found out she was pregnant -- but her excitement quickly turned to devastation when she found out that having a baby would ultimately mean she had to give up her badge.

Krystal Nix was a patrol officer for the city of Brooksville, and when she went in to tell her police chief that she was expecting, she figured he'd put her on light duty assignments until she delivered her baby and was finished with her maternity leave. After that, she assumed she'd go right back to being on patrol to carry on the career that she'd worked so hard for.

But instead of congratulating her on her pregnancy and doing whatever he could to accommodate her, the chief told her to talk to human resources instead to see what she should do next.

And much to her dismay, human resources told her that there were no light duty assignments available at the time, so she wound up going ahead and taking maternity leave.

But then she was told that once her leave was up, she had no job to return to, and she had to choose between quitting her job or being fired. (What the heck?)

Not surprisingly, Krystal hired an attorney and is waiting to hear whether or not her civil rights were violated by the police department. And honestly, I just don't see how the final ruling can go any other way than in her favor. Because the last time I checked, getting pregnant isn't exactly grounds for termination.

I mean, it's understandable that her unit wouldn't want her patrolling while she was still expecting, but there's no reason why they couldn't have found something else for her to do up until she delivered. And even though being a police officer can be kind of a dangerous job sometimes, there are plenty of female officers who are also parents. There's no law that says you can't be a cop and a mom at the same time. And just because she chose a career in law enforcement doesn't mean she shouldn't be able to start a family like any other woman.

Pregnancy should be the start of a new adventure in a woman's life, not the end to all of her hard work and achievements.

Do you think Krystal was discriminated against?

 

Image via futurestreet/Flickr