Pregnant workers lose in state court

HARTFORD, Conn. -- The state Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that small companies can fire pregnant employees without violating the state's ban on gender discrimination.

The court ruled in a 3-2 vote that a 1967 law exempts businesses that have fewer than three workers.

"This state's public policy against sex discrimination by private employers is not absolute," Chief Justice William Sullivan wrote in the decision. "The legislature has carved out an exception to that policy for small employers."

The case involved Nicole Thibodeau, who was fired in 1998 by her employer, Design Group One, a tiny architectural firm in Chester.