Pregnancy Discrimination

Pregnancy should be a happy and joyful experience.  Unfortunately it can often be made stressful by encountering problems in the workplace.  It is difficult to be a working mother but to have to deal with pregnancy discrimination in the workplace makes the job and your life much more stressful.  Many women suffer pregnancy discrimination as soon as they announce their pregnancy to their employer.  Pregnancy discrimination is defined as discrimination on the basis of pregnancy, childbirth, and related conditions. 

Pregnancy discrimination can include all of the following actions by an employer:

• refusing to hire a pregnant applicant;
• firing or demoting a pregnant employee;
• denying the same or a similar job to a pregnant employee when she returns from a pregnancy-related leave;
• treating a pregnant employee differently than other temporarily disabled employees;
• failing to grant a male employee health insurance coverage for his wife's pregnancy related conditions if a female employee's husband has comprehensive health insurance coverage through the same company plan

Under the law, pregnancy is considered a temporary disability, as are related medical conditions such as severe morning sickness, doctor-ordered bed rest, childbirth, recovery from childbirth, and any other related medical condition.  Your employer must therefore give pregnant employees the same treatment and benefits that it gives to employees with other temporary disabilities.

Here are some examples of potentially illegal pregnancy discrimination:

• During an interview, a job placement agency asks an applicant how many children she has and if she is planning to get pregnant again. The applicant says she is four months pregnant. The agency tells her to come back after she has her child and is ready to work.
• A female employee tells her boss at work that she is pregnant. Her boss fires her after learning the news, even though she is still able to work for several more months.
• A pregnant worker at a fast food restaurant asks her boss if she can stop lifting heavy boxes during her pregnancy. The boss says no, even though another employee did not have to lift boxes at work while recovering from surgery. The pregnant worker is forced to quit her job.
• A pregnant worker needs to take time off to visit her doctor for prenatal care. She is docked and eventually disciplined for missing time from work, even though other workers who need ongoing medical treatment are not docked nor disciplined.

The federal laws which prohibit pregnancy discrimination and provide for disability and parenting leaves are Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which includes the Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1978, and the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993.  In 1978, Congress passed the Pregnancy Discrimination Act (P.D.A.) amending Title VII to clarify that discrimination based on pregnancy is a form of sex discrimination.  Title VII prohibits employers from treating pregnant women or temporarily physically disabled new mothers differently from other temporarily sick, injured or disabled employees.

In 1993, Congress enacted the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA).  The FMLA guarantees an employee, male or female, who has been working at least a year for a company with 50 or more employees the right to job-protected, 12-week, unpaid leave to recover from a serious medical condition -- including pregnancy -- or to care for a newborn, a newly adopted child, or a seriously ill child, parent or spouse. Under the FMLA, you have the right to take this 12 week unpaid leave every year, and to have your health benefits maintained during your leave. The FMLA also guarantees that at the end of the leave you will be given the same job you left or another job equivalent in pay, benefits and other terms and conditions.

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) is the agency of the federal government responsible for investigating charges of job discrimination related to an individual's pregnancy in workplaces of 15 or more employees. Most states have their own agencies that enforce state laws against discrimination. 

If you or your loved one experienced Pregnancy Discrimination, it is important to talk to an attorney.  At Rancaño & Rancaño we bring more than 10 years of experience representing victims of discrimination.  Only an experienced lawyer, familiar not only with the law, but knowledgeable in how the law would be applied to a particular fact situation, can provide the most helpful advice. At Rancaño & Rancaño we have that knowledge and experience.

Set up an appointment for your free consultation today with Rancaño & Rancaño by calling us at 800-755-5557 or fill out the online Contact Form and we will contact you as soon as possible.