ROANOKE, Va. (AP) -- A former restaurant waitress says in a discrimination lawsuit that her employer ordered her to be fired because she refused to have an abortion.

The lawsuit filed by Abigail Shomo of Dublin seeks her reinstatement to her job with back pay.

The Roanoke Times reports a federal judge in Roanoke last week ordered the case into mediation.

Attorney Keith Finch, who represents restaurant parent company Junior Corp., says the discrimination allegations are false.

The lawsuit claims restaurant president Leopoldo F. Aguirre Sr., ordered the firing and told Shomo that customers don't want to see "a belly" on their waitresses.

Shomo refused to have the abortion on religious grounds.

Shomo became pregnant four months after taking the job in 2010 at Mi Puerto restaurants in Radford and Fairlawn.