Legal Aid of Arkansas filed a lawsuit in federal court for discrimination and retaliation on behalf of Cynthia Benson against her former employer, Arkansas Arts Academy (AAA), on August 21, 2024. Ms. Benson worked diligently as a full-time dance instructor for AAA for five years before receiving notice that her contract would not be renewed on July 27, 2023, just a couple weeks before she was set to return from her approved maternity leave for the new school year. Though AAA claimed her effective termination was due to lack of available work, AAA hired two new, male, full-time dance instructors for the 2023-2024 school year. In her lawsuit, Ms. Benson alleges that AAA’s decisions to hire these new, male instructors, not honor her already-signed full-time contract, and ultimately refuse her even part-time work was motivated by her pregnancy and in retaliation for her report of her supervisor’s illegal discrimination in the prior school year. Because of the timing of her termination and the special nature of her position, she was not able to find a new position in another school for the school year, leaving the single mom of four scrambling to provide for her family.

Federal law prohibits employment discrimination on any protected basis, meaning on the basis of an employee’s race, color, religion, age, national origin, sex (including pregnancy), disability status, sexual orientation, or gender identity. Employers are not permitted to make adverse employment decisions (such as hiring and firing decisions, decisions to promote, etc.) on a protected basis. Employers are also not permitted to retaliate against employees who make complaints about discrimination on a protected basis. For more information, see our explanation of employment discrimination laws and how to file a charge of discrimination here or contact Legal Aid of Arkansas’s Helpline at 800 952-9243 to request assistance.