ORLANDO, Fla. -- A Central Florida woman claims she was fired by a company after requesting maternity leave.

Colleen Demers had been working for Adams Homes as a sales agent for three years in Port St. Lucie when she learned she was pregnant.

Demers said she notified the company that she'd be taking leave.

"When you notified your supervisors that you were pregnant, did you expect that, in fact, they were going to grant you the leave?" Local 6's Steven Cooper asked.

"Oh, yes," Demers said.

"What led you to believe that?" Cooper asked.

"They told me they would," Demers said.

However, two months before the baby was due, Demers said the company told her that she was only eligible for two days off.

Demers said she was told that since her status was "independent contractor" and not full-time employee, she was not covered by the Family Medical Leave Act.

"I felt like I was kicked to the curb," Demers aid. "I honestly felt there was no place to go."

"When the news came down to you, you made it immediately clear that you were going to pursue this further?" Cooper asked.

"Yes, I did," Demers said.

Two days later she said she was fired.

Demers said the general manager told her they were going in a different direction.

She also claims other employees were not allowed to talk with her.

"Even though it was as painful as it is to lose a friend, it was easier to cut the strings," Demers said.

Demers said she filed a lawsuit against Adams Homes to find answers.

Before the case got to jury, the court ruled that Demers was not an independent contractor and was entitled to pregnancy leave under the law.

"They aggressively argued the issue that she was not an employee covered under FMLA," Demer's attorney Dan Perez said.

Cooper reported that Adams Homes controlled every aspect of her job and earnings and the company worked her full time.

"She had a clean disciplinary record," Perez said. "She had received numerous awards and at trial we presented at least nine or 10 different plaques that she received from Adams Homes for her excellent service."

"I was one of their top sales people," Demers said.

Once the jury got the case, it determined that while there was no sufficient evidence that Demers was fired because she was pregnant, there was sufficient evidence that Adams Homes retaliated against her for complaining about pregnancy discrimination, Cooper reported.

The company's attorneys are appealing the independent contractor issue.

The company owner conceded that if the appeal is not successful, his company will have to rethink how it hires its sales agents, Cooper reported.

While Demers originally sued for hundreds of thousands of dollars, she was awarded $95,000 in lost wages.

Attorneys for Adams Homes are appealing the wages, Cooper reported.

The jury also awarded Demers $5,000 in punitive damages which was struck down by the court and her attorney is appealing that decision.

The company claims it fired Demers because she had disciplinary problems after not getting a promotion and that the decision to terminate her was made before she requested her pregnancy leave. The jury did not believe the argument, Cooper reported.

Watch Local 6 News for more on this story.