A former Google sales executive has filed a lawsuit against the search giant, alleging it engaged in job discrimination while she was pregnant with quadruplets. while she was pregnant with quadruplets.

Christina Elwell, who was promoted to national sales director in late 2003, alleges her supervisor began discriminating against her in May 2004, a month after informing him of her pregnancy and the medical complications she was encountering, according to the lawsuit filed July 17 in a U.S. District Court in New York.

According to the lawsuit, Elwell’s supervisor, Timothy Armstrong, Google’s vice president of national sales, became concerned about her inability to travel for several weeks due to complications with her pregnancy. And in May 2004, he allegedly showed Elwell an organizational chart, in which her position had been deleted and asked her to accept a position in Google’s operations department.

But Elwell, who also lost two of her four unborn children that month, told Armstrong she viewed the position as a demotion and one that would not require any of the sales skills she acquired over a 15-year history. Within a week of this discussion, Elwell’s proposal to move from being a national sales director to an East Coast regional sales director was rejected by Armstrong, who appointed a salesman that Elwell had previously trained and who had no Internet sales experience, according to the lawsuit.

“Armstrong called Elwell into his office and told her that she was an HR nightmare and that he no longer wanted her in the New York office,” according to the lawsuit, noting Armstrong allegedly expressed concern that Elwell was discussing her situation with co-workers and views that her pregnancy was the reason for his actions. Read More….