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O’Reilly Auto Parts will pay $5.6 million after pregnant workers in its Washington stores – including its Puyallup distribution center – allegedly faced discrimination and retaliation related to their pregnancies.
According to a news release from the Washington State Office of the Attorney General, the company violated state law “by systematically failing or refusing to provide pregnant and postpartum workers with reasonable workplace accommodations.”
“The complaint also alleged O’Reilly managers retaliated against workers who requested accommodations, including by threatening them with forced leave, termination, or making them return from parental leave early,” the release said.
In August 2023, the attorney general’s office filed a complaint against the Missouri-based company, with the trial set to start on March 16, 2026.
“During litigation O’Reilly admitted that it had not trained its Washington management and human resources staff about the requirements of Washington’s Healthy Starts Act, which mandates that employers provide reasonable pregnancy-related accommodations,” the release said. “O’Reilly has now agreed to implement training and adopt new policies and practices that will ensure that the rights of its workers will be honored.”
The News Tribune reached out to O’Reilly Auto Part’s distribution center in Puyallup. A manager there gave The News Tribune a phone number for its corporate office. The News Tribune called it and got an automated message saying the number was out of service. The News Tribune then called the corporate phone number listed on O’Reilly’s website and a customer service worker told The News Tribune that no one was in the office who could provide comment.
O’Reilly Auto Parts has 170 stores in Washington state across 29 counties, the release said.
In the release, former worker Ivannah Trinidad said she worked at the company’s Puyallup distribution center while pregnant in 2022 and 2023.
“She said that when she experienced bad cramps and provided a doctor’s note saying she should not lift anything heavier than 15 pounds, O’Reilly management continued to assign her work that exceeded her restrictions,” the release said. “When she reported being in pain and requested breaks to sit and rest, her supervisor told her to push through, sometimes not even allowing her to take her standard breaks.”
Trinidad said the lack of accommodation “caused her baby to drop,” forcing her to go on leave early. After she delivered the baby, she said she asked management for one or two weeks of extra leave to care for her sick infant, and that management refused, forcing her to resign.
Rachel Venefra “worked at several O’Reilly store locations from 2013 until 2022 in southern Washington state,” according to the release, and was not allowed to sit down when customers were around.
“She often had to lift heavy items against the advice of her doctor, and in violation of the Healthy Starts Act,” the release said. “She later found out that her daughter had suffered an in-utero stroke, which impacted her child’s brain, a lasting health issue that Venefra said she thinks is connected to blood clots caused by heavy lifting.”
About 50 workers who were discriminated against will receive compensation “under a $5.6 million decree between the employer and the State of Washington,” the release said.
The decree also requires O’Reilly to do the following in their Washington locations: * Implement a pregnancy accommodation and anti-discrimination policy and explain rights to pregnant and nursing employees. * “Modify its automated human resources system to include a link to its Washington policies and procedures for any employee in the state who requests an accommodation,” the release said. * Implement policies for managers and human resources staff, informing them of these laws and accommodations. * Require O’Reilly to “consult the accommodations department prior to issuing any disciplinary action against an employee who has requested an accommodation,” the release said.
“For the next four years, O’Reilly will provide the AGO with biannual compliance reports which will include a description of any pregnancy discrimination complaints made by a Washington employee and will indicate whether the worker’s employment was terminated while their accommodation request was pending, so the AGO may ensure O’Reilly complies with state law,” the release said.
Workers experiencing pregnancy-related discrimination can submit a complaint by calling 1-833-660-4877 or submitting a pregnancy accommodations complaint form on the attorney general’s website.
© 2026 The News Tribune (Tacoma, Wash.). Visit www.TheNewsTribune.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
