HOUSTON – A Houston woman is suing Shell Oil Company, alleging disability, pregnancy, gender discrimination and retaliation.
Julia Shur said she was terminated from the company in June 2020, 10 days after she returned from medical leave for stage 4 colon cancer. The lawsuit states Shell said she was fired for “poor performance.”
Shur said it came as a shock, considering she continued working from her hospital bed during cancer treatment to close $100 million merger and acquisition deals.
“I didn’t know whether I would live or die. I was working on this first of all, to not to fail my team who put a lot of work in, but also to leave a legacy for my two little kids and the industry I had worked in for so long,” she said.
Shur is seeking more than $1 million in relief and damages from Shell.
“It was not just an unfair dismissal, but disability-related harassment, which began when she was pregnant that included numerous demonstrable falsehoods twisted into a negative narrative against my client that didn’t end until she was locked out of her own email after she brought the company $160 million in revenue,” her attorney Mark Oberti said.
In a statement to KPRC2, a Shell spokesman wrote:
“Allegations of workplace discrimination are taken very seriously at Shell. Given this is a personnel matter and now pending litigation, we cannot offer further comment.”
A jury trial is set for October 2, 2022.