On September 18, 2023, the Maine Human Rights Commission considered a case in which an employee alleged that she was denied reasonable accommodation for a pregnancy-related condition and found in the employee’s favor. In Rudolph v. Eastern Maine Healthcare System d/b/a Northern Light Health & Northern Light Regional Health Facilities…
In Buffalo N.Y. a small group of nursing and health care facilities, Absolut Care LLC, will pay $465,000 to settle a pregnancy and disability discrimination lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). The suit charges Absolut Care with failing to accommodate disabled workers, denying leave as an…
Two former Walmart employees in New York have filed a class action against the company under New York’s law that entitles pregnant employees to reasonable accommodations. Under a New York law enacted in 2016, employers must provide pregnant employees with reasonable accommodations for pregnancy-related medical conditions, such as changes to…
A federal court in Connecticut has determined that a jury could reasonably find that Yale New Haven Health Services Corporation (“Yale”) discriminated against a female employee because she needed to pump breast milk at work. The court found that discrimination against an employee for pumping breast milk violates both federal…
This month, Connecticut enacted new protections for pregnant workers that address some of the more common abusive employment practices that women face when they are pregnant. The new protections include the following: Employers must provide reasonable accommodations to pregnant workers to enable them to work unless the accommodation would be…
The U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in Louisiana recently reversed a trial court’s decision to dismiss a pregnancy discrimination case before trial. The case involved the law firm Carabin & Shaw’s decision to terminate an employee named Cynthia Heinsohn days after she went out on maternity leave. The trial…
Senators Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) and Kelly Ayotte (R-NH) have co-sponsored a bill called the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act. The bill would require employers to provide reasonable accommodations to pregnant employees so that they could continue to work during their pregnancies. Employers have to provide similar accommodations to employees with disabilities…
Last week, a federal court in Massachusetts held that a reasonable jury could find that the Salter School discriminated against former employee Victoria Domenichetti because she was pregnant and would need maternity leave. Ms. Domenichetti worked as the Externship Coordinator at the Salter School’s Fall River campus, which is a…
Last month in California, a federal jury found that AutoZone discriminated against Rosario Juarez, a former employee, because she was pregnant. The jury awarded Juarez $872,000 for the damages she suffered plus $185 million in punitive damages. Juarez claimed that AutoZone demoted her from her management position in 2006 after…
Earlier this month, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) issued new Enforcement Guidance on Pregnancy Discrimination and Related Issues which discusses legal requirements under the Pregnancy Discrimination Act (PDA), Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), and other federal laws. According to the new Enforcement Guidance, pregnancy discrimination complaints have been…