In February 2017, plaintiff Sarah Coogle, 31, a corrections officer, asked her return-to-work coordinator at the California Correctional Institution, in Tehachapi, for alternate work in a less strenuous position because of her pregnancy. Coogle was told that if she did not want to stay in her current position or take medical leave as an accommodation, there were other options available to her. However, she claimed that all of the other options consisted of a loss of pay, status or both. Coogle asked her union representative for help later that month in getting alternate work, but she was told prison officials view pregnancy as a “planned illness,” much like an elective surgery. Coogle claimed that since she could perform the essential functions of her job, but could not afford to go on leave or lose benefits, she stayed in her position. When Coogle was seven months pregnant, she ran to intervene in an inmate fight at the all-male “super maximum” prison, but she fell and suffered a placental rupture. She lost her child a few days before she was to give birth on the due date of Sept. 13, 2017. Coogle sued the operator of the California Correctional Institution, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. She alleged that the Department of Corrections failed to accommodate her, constituting disability discrimination, in violation of the Fair Employment and Housing Act. Coogle claimed that her coordinator told her she could stay in her current position and work until she was five weeks from her due date or go out on unpaid medical leave. She also claimed that the other options given to her was to accept a loss of peace officer status, a loss of seniority, a loss of benefits, a loss of the right to bid for shifts or a demotion with two-thirds reduction in pay. Coogle claimed that since she was pregnant, she could not afford to lose pay or benefits, so she was forced to stay in her position in the super maximum prison. Defense counsel argued that Coogle was also given other options prior to her decision to stay in her position., After her fall, Coogle presented to a hospital, where it was determined that she had suffered a placental rupture. Her baby was put on life support, but it died at the hospital. Coogle sought recovery of emotional distress damages as a result of the incidents.