Barnard College is facing allegations that it laid off a custodian who is eight months pregnant to avoid paying her maternity leave, in violation of her union contract and federal law, the worker and her union leaders said on Wednesday.
Shakira Zahiruddin, 32, of the Bronx, had been employed at the all-women’s institution on Manhattan’s Upper West Side until Aug. 26, when she was abruptly terminated via email.
The decision left her without income or health coverage for herself, her two children, ages 7 and 13, and her unborn baby, the single mother said, noting that her medical benefits expired six days after her firing.
“As anyone can understand, this is a very hard moment for my family and I,” Zahiruddin said through tears at a press conference at Transport Workers Union Local 100 headquarters in Downtown Brooklyn. “I’m left with nothing. What am I going to do now?… It’s not fair. It’s very unjust and inhumane.”
She said her dismissal was not due to her performance but because of her pregnancy. “I wasn’t let go because I didn’t do my job properly, or I was incompetent. No, I was let go because of my pregnancy. No one wants to deal with the cost of that, and that’s not fair, that I have to suffer.”
Under the collective bargaining agreement between Barnard and TWU Local 264, layoffs must be conducted by seniority, according to the union. The union claims the college skipped over a male employee with less time on the job than Zahiruddin. She was hired on April 6, 2024; the male worker started on July 29, 2024. amNewYork has requested a copy of the collective bargaining agreement to verify the seniority rules that the union says Barnard violated in Zahiruddin’s layoff.
Local 264 President Joseph Rose said Barnard’s decision violated those rules and harmed the most vulnerable worker. “The tyrannical and irresponsible decision making made by Barnard is unacceptable, and we will continue to voice our outrage against this, these union busting tactics that Barnard has imposed and putting their bottom line and cost savings above human decency and fiduciary responsibilities.”
The union has filed a grievance contesting the layoff, which will go through Barnard’s human resources department, and if they rule against her, it will go to an independent arbitrator.
Rose said they will continue to support Zahiruddin “to ensure that the contract is honored,” but that Barnard “has chosen to go silent and not give us any answers.”
“This has been one of the darkest moments in Barnard’s history, allowing a junior employee to bump Shakira out of her position, knowing that he does not have seniority over her,” said Rose. “They were informed that this decision was wrong, and they chose not to respond or give any reason as to why they allowed it.”
According to the union, Barnard told Zahiruddin she could apply for a vacant custodial position on the 3-11 p.m. shift. There was no guarantee she would get the job. Even if hired, she would be treated as a probationary worker, earning a lower hourly wage and without eligibility for paid maternity leave.
Zahiruddin said the offer amounted to being stripped of the protections she had earned. “This is my life. This is my family,” she said. “Right now, I feel like they just don’t care.”
Her firing came amid a “college-wide staff restructuring” that some speakers at Wednesday’s press conference speculated was tied to Barnard’s recent settlement of a lawsuit brought by Jewish students who alleged the school failed to properly address campus antisemitism. A Barnard spokesperson refuted any connection between the layoffs and the settlement.
The union contends Zahiruddin was wrongly included in the layoff group to maximize savings. Rose said her case is the starkest example of Barnard refusing to follow the contractual terms regarding layoffs and seniority rights. Several other Local 264 members were also recently laid off, he said.
“This is inhumane and indecent. She should be focused on preparing for bringing her newborn child into this world and bringing in income and supporting her children.” Rose added. “Instead, she’s been left with nothing. She’s been left out in the cold. She has no means right now to provide for her family, and it’s unacceptable.”
A Barnard College spokesperson said the school “prides itself on being a fair, respectful workplace and fully complies with all employment laws, including those for pregnant employees.”
The spokesperson said the layoffs were part of a one-time, college-wide restructuring to reflect Barnard’s evolving operational needs. The restructuring affected about 77 full-time positions, including some held by union employees.
“For TWU-represented employees, the contract TWU negotiated determined which employees were ultimately impacted,” the spokesperson said. “Barnard is bound by union seniority rules, which allow more senior employees to displace junior ones. All affected union employees were informed they remain eligible for rehire and encouraged to apply for open positions.”
A source close to the layoff proceedings at Barnard claimed that all affected union employees were informed they remain eligible for rehire and encouraged to apply for open positions.
The college currently has four open custodian positions, according to the source who said that any recently bumped union employee moving into a role with the same classification will not be on probation, and would be eligible for maternity leave. They also claimed that any employee rehired this month will not experience a gap in health coverage.
However, in correspondence between Zahiruddin and her former employer, seen by amNewYork, the 32-year-old was told that as a rehire, “an employee will being as a probationary employee.”
