A model alleges she was sacked when working for Hyundai as she had her period

A MODEL alleges she was sacked by vehicle manufacturer Hyundai from a job for having her period while at work.

Model Rachel Rickert alleges that she was fired by Hyundai from the New York International Auto Show for having her period while at work.

A MODEL alleges she was sacked by vehicle manufacturer Hyundai from a job at the New York International Auto Show for having her period while on the job.

“I’m not going to let someone tell me I can’t have my period when I work. It’s unacceptable,” 27-year-old Rachel Rickert told The New York Post.

Her management agent Erika Seifred said she was dismissed “because Hyundai heard about Ms. Rickert having her menstrual cycle and they didn’t want Ms. Rickert representing the company anymore,” according to her complaint to the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

On the second day of the New York International Auto Show, April 13, Rickert alleges that she had worked for three hours greeting guests at the Hyundai booth before she was allowed to take a bathroom break.

She didn’t make it to the rest room in time to change her tampon.

She told Seifred that she’d soiled her Hyundai uniform — black tights and a black dress — and would need a change of clothes and time to clean up.

Instead Seifred told her the client Hyundai wanted her to take the night off because of her “period situation,” the EEOC complaint states.

Rickert says she protested because she was being paid by the hour and wanted to work, but was told to go home.

Rachel Rickert at her attorney's office. She is filing a sexual harassment lawsuit against Hyundai for her work done at the Auto Show. Picture: Tamara Beckwith/NY Post

Seifred called her on the morning of April 15 and told her she was being let go by Hyundai.

“She called me and pretty much told me that Hyundai didn’t want me representing them anymore at the show because they got word of my menstrual cycle,” Rickert said.

Rickert says she has been paid to be at 50 convention shows at the Javits Centre in New York City and was shocked.

“You’re not a robot. You have to use the bathroom especially when you’re on your period,” she fumed.

“They just act like we’re not human. I’m not going to be ashamed or shamed of having my period.”

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Her lawyer Mark Shirian told the New York Post: “Discrimination of any kind, especially because of a menstrual cycle, should not be tolerated.”

Rickert claims she had expected to make $US5,000 from the show. She said she had not been paid at all.

The EEOC complaint was filed on Tuesday against Hyundai and Seifred’s management firm, Experiential Talent, which had hired Rickert.

Seifred declined to comment and Hyundai said they have yet to receive an EEOC filing regarding the issue.

“We take any complaint like this seriously and will respond appropriately once we have a chance to investigate the merits of the claim,” a representative told the New York Post.

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Originally published as A model alleges she was sacked when working for Hyundai as she had her period