Bozeman Firefighter Refused Bereavement Leave After Losing Baby

Update: The City of Bozeman issued a statement. The full statement is below. 

Original Post

A Bozeman firefighter and medic was denied bereavement leave by the city after losing her baby to an ectopic pregnancy. Then, she says the city compared her loss to the loss of a pet.

Gabby Murphy called into our radio show this AM to speak out about her situation, which she also detailed in a lengthy Instagram post shared with us by a military veteran friend of mine in Bozeman.

Here's part of what Gabby shared on Instagram:

February 17th, 2024, I experienced a traumatic pregnancy loss. After finding out we were pregnant, we were so excited! After a long time dealing with infertility and a previous baby loss, we felt like we were finally getting our chance, our rainbow baby. As the pregnancy progressed, I began experiencing severe pain in my abdomen that continued to get worse. For a week I told myself that if I didn’t acknowledge it, it wasn’t real. I wasn’t going to accept that anything would take away my chance to have this baby. Despite almost a decade of medical knowledge and experience, I just KNEW that if I was strong enough, that nothing could touch this pregnancy. It doesn’t make logical sense I know, but to a mother, it makes all sense in the world.

She then shared how she had to be rushed to the ER by the end of the week and was told that they had lost the pregnancy of their "very-wanted child. In the time that followed, she says she reached out to the City of Bozeman Human Resources department "to ask to use bereavement leave, as the policy stated that loss of "child" was a qualifier. I was denied over the phone with no explanation of why."

She then added this:

I kept pushing for answers. Over multiple meetings between HR, the City Manager, and myself, I was given a variety of reasons why I was denied:

• I was told it was because my baby wasn’t viable;
• That "pregnancy loss is common";
• That I wouldn’t have been able to obtain a death certificate at the time of my loss (despite this not being stated anywhere in the policy or as past practice);
• That this would open the door for male employees grieving a lost pregnancy to be eligible as well;
• That employees would abuse bereavement leave for pregnancy loss, and that the Fire Department specifically "abuses time.": I’ve even compared my pregnancy loss to the "loss of a pet" when describing their view of unreasonable Bereavement Leave requests that they must deny.

Gabby: "If this resonates with you, please share my story, write letters, call Bozeman City Hall, and the Commissioners, speak up in whatever capacity you feel inclined to do. People deserve better than this, and nothing will change for the better unless we push for it."

Here's her full post on Instagram, and further down you can listen to her entire phone call on the below podcast.

Note: After getting Gabby's phone call, I did reach out to the City of Bozeman to see if they have information they would like to share, or a response to the story.

Here is the response from the City of Bozeman Wednesday afternoon. 

Statement from the City of Bozeman:

The City of Bozeman recognizes our employees face unique personal situations that are oftentimes traumatic. We are saddened by Ms. Murphy’s loss and we deeply empathize with her. Out of utmost respect for her privacy we will not discuss the specific circumstances of her case.

We are disappointed this matter has been made public while we are currently in the formal dispute resolution phase outlined in our contract with the Bozeman Firefighters Union.

We offer all employees a generous benefits package and we remain committed to supporting our employees and their families.

The City provides two weeks of paid bereavement leave per year for employees who experience the death of a family member. This is a voluntary benefit we have chosen to provide our employees, and we rely upon state law as to eligibility. The City of Bozeman is the only large municipality in the state that provides this level of benefit. In circumstances where employees experience a loss that is not covered by our bereavement leave policy, we offer many alternatives to ensure that employees are able to take the time away from work they need, without suffering any loss of income.

We were also one of the first municipalities in the state of Montana to voluntarily offer eight weeks of paid parental leave to new parents, both mother and father.

Other leave benefits for City employees include a minimum of 96 (117 for firefighters) hours of paid sick leave per year and 120 (147 for firefighters) hours of paid vacation time per year, 13 paid holidays per year, personal days, and accrual of up to 225 hours of compensatory time.

When the provided leave may not be enough to cover extenuating circumstances, the City has a leave donation bank where employees may request up to an additional 480 hours of paid leave. This is another voluntary benefit we provide to help ensure employees are able to take the time off they need.

All benefits come at a cost. The voluntary bereavement and parental leave benefits the City provides have cost over $1M in the past five years. Unfortunately, not everyone agrees the leave provided by the City is adequate.

Loss is a unique and deeply personal experience. We strive to provide needed support to our employees, all of whom experience different life challenges and personal situations. Our employees are our greatest resource and we’re proud to be able to support them during their most difficult times.

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A post shared by Gabrielle Murphy (@gabbygirl714)