Pregnancy In the Workplace...Hot Off the Press
Modeled after the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and enforced by the Equal Employment Opportunities Commission (EEOC), the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA) was passed with bipartisan congressional support as a...more
In a recent decision, the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit held that an employer did not violate the Pregnancy Discrimination Act (PDA) despite excluding pregnant workers from its “Temporary Alternative...more
On a matter of first impression, the U.S. Eleventh Circuit, in Durham v. Rural/Metro Corp., applied the test for indirect evidence of intentional pregnancy discrimination enunciated by the U.S. Supreme Court in Young v. UPS....more
Seyfarth Synopsis: On April, 17, 2020, the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals in Durham v. Rural/Metro Corp., No. 18-14687, considered a matter of first impression within the Circuit and became one of the first appellate...more
The 11th Circuit Court’s recent decision in Durham v. Rural/Metro Corporation illustrates just how easy it is for a plaintiff to establish a claim under the Pregnancy Discrimination Act (PDA), despite the U.S. Supreme Court’s...more
On September 17, 2019, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) issued a press release announcing that a charge of discrimination against United Parcel Service, Inc. (UPS), alleging failure to accommodate in...more
The Louisiana Court of Appeal, Fourth Circuit recently held that a pregnant employee who suffered from a pregnancy-related illness was not disabled within the scope and meaning of the Louisiana Employment Discrimination Law...more
When the U.S. Supreme Court issued a March 2015 decision creating a new standard for how employers should accommodate pregnant employees, retailers took notice. After all, approximately 50% of retail employees are female, and...more
In last year’s Young decision, the U.S. Supreme Court found that an employer could not exclude pregnant employees from participation in a light duty work program absent demonstration of significant burdens that would result...more
States and municipalities around the country are increasingly providing more protection for pregnant employees. As recently as April 2016, San Francisco became the first municipality to enact fully paid parental leave for up...more
In a recent U.S. Supreme Court case about pregnancy discrimination, Justice Breyer asked: “Why, when the employer accommodated so many, could it not accommodate pregnant women as well?” As an employer, that is a question you...more
Employers frequently offer light duty work as a means for injured employees to return to their regular job duties. Light duty is typically associated with employees with Workers’ Compensation related injuries. ...more
A federal appeals court panel has come out with a decision interpreting the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision last year in Young v. UPS, and the result wasn’t too good for the employer. The Sheriff’s Department of Ulster...more
Last week, UPS settled its long-running case with Peggy Young, the employee whose case went up to the Supreme Court after she was denied light duty. As many will recall from an earlier blog post, the high court found that...more
Law360 reported this morning that Peggy Young and United Parcel Service have settled their pregnancy discrimination/accommodation case that went to the Supreme Court, resulting in this decision from last March. The Supreme...more
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission filed suit last week in a federal court in Pennsylvania against Landis Communities (retirement communities), claiming that Landis unlawfully refused to accommodate the pregnancy and...more
On June 25, 2015, the Rhode Island General Assembly passed and Governor Gina M. Raimondo signed legislation making it an unlawful employment practice under the state’s Fair Employment Practices Act for an employer to refuse...more
Many employers have what they call “light duty” policies whereby they allow employees to continue working even though the employees are unable to perform some of the essential functions of their jobs. Very few employers can...more
Question: Over the summer, we heard a lot about new guidance on pregnancy discrimination. What do we need to know to ensure we are complying with local, state, and federal laws on pregnancy discrimination?...more
Last month, the Rhode Island Fair Employment Practices Act was amended to require employers with 4 or more employees to provide reasonable accommodations to employees and prospective employees with a “condition”. Such...more
Following the amendments to the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)—the ADA Amendments Act of 2008 (ADAAA)—employers were told to refrain from asking employees whether they were disabled. The employer community took this...more
On June 25, 2015, Rhode Island Governor Gina M. Raimondo signed legislation requiring Rhode Island employers to provide workplace accommodations for pregnant workers. The new law, which went into effect immediately,...more
Hot off the heels of the Supreme Court’s decision in Young v. United Parcel Service, Inc., recently, a bipartisan group of lawmakers declared their intent to reintroduce the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act....more
Since 1978, pregnancy and pregnancy related health conditions have been protected conditions under the Pregnancy Discrimination Act (“PDA”). A recent Supreme Court case, Young v. UPS may increase the ability of pregnant...more
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has issued revised pregnancy discrimination guidance setting forth a framework for assessing how far employers must go in accommodating pregnant employees, following the Supreme...more