Dive Brief:
- The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has reached a settlement in two pregnancy discrimination cases and filed a new lawsuit on a third, the agency announced Thursday in a series of media releases.
- In the first settlement, an assisted living facility paid $20,000 to resolve allegations that it refused to schedule and then fired a temporary worker upon learning she was pregnant. In the second, a plant nursery paid $40,000 to resolve allegations it did not allow a worker to return after maternity leave. EEOC’s newly filed lawsuit alleged an employer refused to allow a worker with a high-risk pregnancy to work remotely to limit her exposure to COVID-19.
- The actions highlight the agency’s continued interest in enforcing the relatively new Pregnant Workers Fairness Act. However, Acting Chair Andrea Lucas has expressed her opposition to aspects of the agency’s final rule, which was passed in April 2024.
Dive Insight:
Congress passed the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act — which requires employers with 15 or more employees to provide reasonable accommodations for job applicants and employees with known limitations related to pregnancy, childbirth and related conditions — in December 2022.
The law went into effect June 27, 2023, and EEOC finalized a rule the following April clarifying that it regarded abortion as a “related medical condition” that could be protected under the law.
EEOC has shown a strong interest in enforcing the new law, filing three lawsuits last year after the rule was finalized in June.
In one case, the agency alleged a trucking equipment manufacturer refused to transfer a pregnant employee to a role that did not require lying on her stomach and forced her to take unpaid leave. In another, EEOC said a manufacturer required a pregnant employee to work overtime, despite a physician’s restriction. In the third case, the agency said a medical practice refused to allow a pregnant medical assistant to take breaks, sit or work part-time during the third trimester of a high-risk pregnancy.
Another case, filed shortly after, dealt with postpartum pregnancy-related accommodations when a worker was fired for requesting leave to recover and grieve following a stillbirth. The accused Miami-based resort settled those allegations for $100,000.
Although EEOC has yet to file a complaint relating to abortion-related accommodations, its controversial final rule has provoked a number of lawsuits from religiously affiliated employers. Last fall, a North Dakota judge enjoined the agency from enforcing the guidance on a Catholic employer organization, stating that it was a “precarious time for people of religious faith in America.” More recently, a Christian education nonprofit also evaded the agency’s enforcement in a Missouri case. A Louisiana district court judge has also exempted the states of Louisiana and Mississippi.
While the final rule remains in effect, Acting Chair Lucas has stated she intends for the agency to revisit the definition of “pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions” once a quorum has been reestablished.
