Title VII of the Civil Rights Act makes it illegal for most employers to discriminate against employees and job applicants on the basis of various characteristics, such as race and sex. Discriminating against a pregnant woman or a new mother is a form of sex discrimination, but in 1978, the Pregnancy Discrimination Act was enacted to provide specific protections for pregnant women.
Just like race-based, sex-based, and other types of discrimination, pregnancy discrimination comes in many forms. Any time a woman is unfairly burdened in the workplace, treated differently than her colleagues, or is subjected to actions that can hinder her career in the short and long term because of her pregnancy, she is a victim of pregnancy discrimination.
Examples of pregnancy discrimination include:
One of the types of discrimination mentioned above was denying a pregnant employee the reasonable accommodations she requests. A reasonable accommodation is a change to an employee’s workspace or schedule to accommodate her pregnancy-related needs and limitations without creating an undue burden on the company or its other employees. Examples of reasonable accommodations for pregnancy include:
Take the time to document everything you face. Build a log of all documents related to the discriminatory actions and your interactions with your supervisor and Human Resources to make the mistreatment end. If you cannot resolve the issue within your company, contact an experienced employment lawyer to discuss your rights and grounds for pursuing a discrimination claim with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission or Illinois Department of Human Rights.
If your career is suffering because of the pregnancy discrimination you faced at work, and this can mean the onset of anxiety, a worsened physical condition because of the strenuous work you were made to do or the doctor appointments you could not attend, or your lost earnings because you were terminated or passed over for promotion, contact the Law Office of Mitchell A. Kline today to schedule your initial consultation with an experienced employment lawyer.