"We can't hire you. You'll be absent too much due to your monthly cycle." That's the text Rahdia Green received from a hiring manager at a gym owned by Equinox Holdings after she requested to reschedule a second-round interview for a front desk job. Green, who suffers from endometriosis, asked to delay the interview by a few days because of severe menstrual pain. Instead of accommodating her request, the gym declined to interview her further and hired a male applicant with no prior experience—despite Green's years of relevant experience working in similar roles at other gyms.
Endometriosis is a medical condition in which tissue similar to the uterine lining grows outside the uterus, often causing severe symptoms. For Green, it resulted in painful and severe menstrual cramping, nausea, and headaches several times per year. It is also recognized as a disability under the Americans with Disabilities Act. Refusing to hire someone due to their endometriosis is not only disability discrimination but also sex discrimination.
"Stigma surrounding menstruation remains far too prevalent in society and the workplace," said EEOC Regional Attorney Debra Lawrence after the agency filed suit against the employer. "Federal law prevents such stigma and misconceptions regarding reproductive disorders, like endometriosis, from causing an otherwise well-qualified woman not to be hired simply because she may need an accommodation."
EEOC Field Office Director Mindy E. Weinstein added, "The ADA requires employers to provide reasonable accommodations not only to employees but also to qualified applicants during the hiring process if doing so would not pose an undue hardship. Merely rescheduling this applicant's second-round interview a few days later is an example of an accommodation that does not pose an undue hardship."
In other words, if you refuse to hire a woman because she suffers from painful periods, you might just be The Worst Employer of 2025.