MILWAUKEE (WTAQ) - The federal government is suing a private high school in suburban Milwaukee for firing a teacher because she was pregnant.

The University School in River Hills fired Mallory Barker last November, just a few months after she was hired.

She filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission – and the agency found probable cause that the school violated Barker’s civil rights.

The EEOC said efforts to reach a settlement had failed – and it filed a lawsuit this week in federal court in Milwaukee.

Barker was hired in August of last year as a part-time instructor for arts and crafts programs after school. She learned two months later that she was pregnant.

The government’s lawsuit said the University School unlawfully acted with, “malice or reckless indifference” in firing Barker. The agency is seeking back pay and other damages, plus an injunction against other sex discrimination by the school.

The school has not commented.