TQL Loses $22.5M Verdict Over Remote Work During Pregnancy

An Ohio jury has ordered one of the country's largest freight brokers to pay $22.5 million to a former employee whose newborn died after the company had refused her request to work from home during a high-risk pregnancy. Hamilton County jurors found that Total Quality Logistics wrongfully denied remote work to sales employee Chelsea Walsh despite medical recommendations of partial bed rest in early 2021, then placed her on unpaid leave when she objected, the Guardian reports. Walsh eventually was granted permission to work remotely, on Feb. 24, 2021, but she developed complications that day and delivered her daughter, Magnolia, at 20 weeks, 6 days. Magnolia died within hours.

Attorney Matthew Metzger said jurors concluded that TQL's denial of a "reasonable request" contributed to her death. The family's lawsuit also alleged a TQL executive told an outside human resources official, "You just saved us a lawsuit" after being warned the company had mishandled the situation. TQL, which is based outside Cincinnati and has about 9,000 employees, as well as naming rights to a Cincinnati stadium, offered condolences but said it disagrees with the verdict and "the way the facts were characterized." Walsh's co-counsel said the jury initially awarded $25 million in damages and placed 90% of the fault with TQL. That made the final judgment $22.5 million, per WLWT.