A Pennsylvania home healthcare services company violated federal law by firing an employee because she was pregnant and because of her disability, the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) charged in a lawsuit. According to the lawsuit, a pregnant scheduling coordinator with hypertension was unlawfully discharged because of those conditions. The company’s president and vice president repeatedly told the pregnant worker that she was a “liability to the company” due to her condition. They ultimately fired her based on her pregnancy and hypertension after she was treated at a hospital for early contractions, despite the fact that she remained qualified to perform her job and was not medically restricted from performing her duties.
Such alleged conduct violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended by the Pregnancy Discrimination Act, which prohibits sex discrimination in employment, including on the basis of pregnancy, childbirth, and pregnancy-related medical conditions. The conduct also violates Title I of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), which prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability, including pregnancy-related disabilities. The EEOC filed suit after first attempting to reach a pre-litigation settlement through its conciliation process.
For more information on disability discrimination, please visit https://www.eeoc.gov/disability-discrimination. For more information on pregnancy discrimination, please visit https://www.eeoc.gov/pregnancy-discrimination.
Issue:
Pregnancy discrimination is against the law. The EEOC enforces two federal laws that protect job applicants and employees who are pregnant. The first law is Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended by the Pregnancy Discrimination Act, which is called “Title VII.” It prohibits sex discrimination, including pregnancy discrimination. The second law is the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The ADA prohibits discrimination against an applicant or employee based on a disability, including a disability related to a pregnancy such as diabetes that develops during pregnancy. While pregnancy itself is not a disability under the ADA, some pregnant workers may have one or more impairments related to their pregnancy that qualify as a “disability” under the ADA. An employer may have to provide that worker with a reasonable accommodation for the pregnancy-related disability.
Discussion Points:
- Review the facility’s policies and procedures addressing prevention of discrimination, including pregnancy and disability discrimination. Ensure that any state-specific laws are included. Update the policies if needed.
- Train human resources staff and facility leadership on ADA requirements, including reasonable accommodations. Document that these trainings occurred and file each signed document in the employee’s individual education file.
- Periodically audit by anonymously polling staff to determine if they may be experiencing discrimination in the workplace. In addition, ensure that staff are aware of how to report any concerns of discrimination they may observe or experience to their immediate supervisor or through the facility’s hotline.
