CRANBERRYTWP — A plastic surgery office discriminated against a pregnant secretary who was fired after being told to suck in her belly so she wouldn't scare away patients, government lawyers charged in an anti-discrimination lawsuit filed Wednesday.

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission sued Premier Plastic Surgery, which has six locations in the Pittsburgh area, on behalf of Erin Griggle. Griggle, who worked in the company's Cranberry Township office, said she was fired in December 2005, two weeks after telling her supervisors she was pregnant.

In the lawsuit, Griggle said she was told to keep "sucking her belly in" by Dr. Brian Vasser Heil, the company's president, so she didn't scare away patients who came to the office to look better. Griggle was fired days later, despite having recently received a satisfactory performance review, the lawsuit said.

"An employer cannot fire a pregnant employee based on outdated and speculative fears regarding how patients might react to her pregnancy," EEOC Regional Attorney Jacqueline McNair said in a statement.

Reached by telephone Wednesday, Heil said he had no comment on the suit.