Pregnant With Discrimination

I’m four months pregnant with my son. Though I’m not very far along, I’m showing quite a bit, and it’s become difficult to sit in the normal desks of the lecture hall. One day, I get tired of squeezing into them and just sit in the handicapped desks (which have been unoccupied all semester). It happens that, on this day, we start having a guest lecturer, since our professor had to get surgery mid-semester.

The lecturer stops me after class and berates me for sitting in a handicapped spot. I explain that I don’t fit into the other desks, and that it’s the only spot that can fit me. She proceeds to tell me that she doesn’t care, that I should just sit in the normal desks.

Next class, I sit at a normal desk in the front row sideways (since that’s literally the only way I fit). After class, the lecturer once again berates me and tells me to sit properly. I once again, tell her that I’m pregnant and there’s nothing I can really do. She then proceeds to tell me to lose weight, or my baby will end up being a “fat roll.”

Upset, I email my professor, asking for advice on what to do. I don’t get a response. However, I return to class for the next lesson and sit in the handicapped spot, unwilling to be uncomfortable for a two-hour lecture. When the lecture is over and the lecturer is berating me again, and a man in a suit comes up behind her and asks her to join him in the hallway.

Turned out, my original professor was very unimpressed by this behavior, and sent a anti-discrimination representative to observe her behavior. After her proving my claims correct, the man informed her that her behavior could land her in a whole lot of trouble with the code of conduct, and get her fired. She said nothing to me for the rest of the time she lectured us. Thankfully, she was the only professor to ever care or comment that I was pregnant.