Articles Posted in Pregnancy Discrimination

In a Title VII discrimination case, a worker can succeed in multiple possible ways. One is to provide direct evidence of discrimination. For example, if your boss finds out on Monday that you’re pregnant and, on Tuesday, sends you an email that says, “I just found out that you’re pregnant. Best of luck on a healthy pregnancy. Also, we don’t want pregnant workers so you’re fired, effective immediately,” then that’s direct evidence. As most experienced New York employment discrimination lawyers can tell you, though, obtaining that degree of blatant “smoking gun” proof is hard to do and rare.

As a result, many workers must rely on another method, called an “inference of discrimination.” Say that you tell your supervisor on Monday about your pregnancy. On Thursday, you receive a letter from Human Resources that says, “upon further review, we no longer believe that you have the capacity to perform all of the essential functions of your job, so we are terminating your employment, effective immediately.” That’s a potential example of an “inference of discrimination” situation.

The pregnancy discrimination case of S.S., an employee for the U.S. Postal Service, was an example of an “inference of discrimination” scenario where the worker succeeded.

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When you endure discrimination at work and decide to undertake legal action based on that discrimination, some things may happen and there are other things that you reasonably can expect will happen. Once you sue, you can plan on your employer trying to attack your claims in every way possible. When that happens, it pays to have a skilled New York City employment discrimination lawyer to get the evidence you need to shoot down those defense arguments.

A recent pregnancy discrimination case from Brooklyn shows what we mean. C.L. was a woman who, in 2012, had been working for a hospital in East Flatbush for six years as a “community access coordinator.” That December, she sought (and her employer approved) maternity leave. So far so good, right?

However, in 2013, the hospital assigned a new supervisor over C.L. That woman allegedly made “disparaging remarks” about C.L.’s pregnancy and maternity leave. On June 25, C.L.’s first day back from her 16-week maternity leave, the hospital fired her, asserting that her position had been eliminated.

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Pregnancy discrimination is an illegal form of employment discrimination. That has been true under federal, state, and city law for decades. Nevertheless, the insidious problem of pregnancy discrimination in the workplace, including discrimination against breastfeeding moms, remains. Whether you’ve suffered harm on the job because of your pregnancy or because of post-partum issues (like breastfeeding or expressing breast milk,) you are entitled to take legal action and potentially entitled to recover substantial compensation. There is, however, only a limited time to act under the law, so don’t delay. Reach out and retain a knowledgeable New York City pregnancy discrimination lawyer right away.

One of the forms of discrimination that happens to a lot of pregnant or breastfeeding working mothers is inappropriate jokes or comments at the workplace. Take, for example, A.Z., an account manager for a children’s clothing manufacturer. In 2018, the manager informed her supervisors that she was pregnant. After a brief maternity leave, A.Z. returned to work in the spring of 2019.

Once A.Z. was back in the office, the comments started, according to her complaint. One of the company’s owners allegedly asked the manager for some breast milk for his coffee, requesting that she “just squirt it in there.” The other owner allegedly would yell things like “pump station” and “pumper” as he passed A.Z.’s lactation accommodation area. The owners additionally opined that their office was “turning into a regular dairy farm” and that A.Z. could “put a milk company out of business,” according to the lawsuit.

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If you’re trying to work through your pregnancy, you’ve undoubtedly made a thoughtful decision that continuing to work is the best way to provide for your family. Being fired because of your pregnancy can inflict a great deal of stress, frustration, and financial insecurity on you during what is an already highly stressful (albeit exciting) time in your life. While employers have considerable discretion in who they hire and fire, they cannot fire you just because you’re pregnant. If that’s happened to you, you may have the makings of a successful New York pregnancy discrimination lawsuit.

So, what exactly does pregnancy discrimination in New York look like? Here’s a real-life example from upstate. The worker, A.G., was “visibly pregnant” when she interviewed for a waitress job with a Mexican restaurant. The manager who interviewed her knew she was pregnant and the restaurant owner, A.R., also knew she was pregnant.

The restaurant hired the woman and she typically worked around 17 hours per week. However, just a few weeks into the job, the waitress came down with bronchitis and missed five days of work. When she returned to work, the owner had assigned someone else to her shift.

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Employment laws all over the country protect workers from discrimination based on pregnancy, childbirth, and medical conditions that may arise during pregnancy or after giving birth. New York City pregnancy discrimination attorneys can also use state and city law to demand reasonable accommodations for workers who might need extra restroom breaks, more time to sit down, restrictions on lifting large amounts of weight, and other needs. A 2014 law passed by the New York City Council added provisions regarding reasonable accommodations to the New York City Human Rights Law (NYCHRL). Unfortunately, many employers continue to deny such accommodations to their employees, sometimes with tragic consequences. A female employee of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) sued her employer in 2020, alleging that the refusal to provide reasonable accommodations resulted in her miscarriage. The lawsuit is still pending, but the MTA has reportedly agreed to several new accommodations for pregnant workers.

At the state level, the New York State Human Rights Law (NYSHRL) prohibits employment discrimination based on “familial status,” which includes pregnancy. N.Y. Exec. L. §§ 292(26)(a), 296(1)(a). The NYCHRL addresses discrimination by employers because of employees’ “sexual and reproductive health decisions,” which may include the decision to have children. N.Y.C. Admin. Code §§ 8-102, 8-107(1)(a).

Both city and state law require reasonable accommodations during an employee’s pregnancy and after they give birth. The NYSHRL requires accommodations for “pregnancy-related conditions,” which refers to both conditions “that inhibit[] the exercise of a normal bodily function” and that are generally accepted to be part of pregnancy or childbirth. N.Y. Exec L. §§ 292(21-f), 296(3). The NYCHRL requires an employer to provide reasonable accommodations “that will allow the employee to perform the essential requisites of the job.” N.Y.C. Admin. Code § 8-107(22)(a).

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New York City pregnancy discrimination lawyers often hear from workers who were denied a job opportunity because they were pregnant, or who lost a job or found their hours cut back when they told their employer about their pregnancy. City, state, and federal laws prohibit a wide range of acts by employers that discriminate on the basis of pregnancy, childbirth, or medical conditions related to either. In New York City, employers must also provide reasonable accommodations for pregnant workers and workers who have given birth recently, including a clean and private lactation room on work premises. Many other employment discrimination laws do not require this of employers. In late 2020, the New York City Commission on Human Rights (CHR) published a new proposed rule interpreting and clarifying the city’s pregnancy discrimination laws.

Three antidiscrimination statutes cover New York City, and each one addresses pregnancy discrimination in a different way. At the federal level, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits employment discrimination on the basis of sex, and defines “on the basis of sex” to include “pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions.” 42 U.S.C. §§ 2000e(k), 2000e-2(a). The New York State Human Rights Law (NYSHRL) prohibits discrimination on the basis of “familial status,” using a definition that includes pregnancy. N.Y. Exec. L. §§ 292(26), 296(1)(a). State law also specifically bars employers from forcing a pregnant employee “to take a leave of absence” in many situations. Id. at § 296(1)(g).

The New York City Human Rights Law (NYCHRL) does not identify pregnancy as a distinct protected category, although a recent amendment to the law bars discrimination on the basis of “sexual and reproductive health decisions,” which could include pregnancy. See N.Y.C. Admin. Code §§ 8-102, 8-107(1)(a). Both the NYCHRL and the NYSHRL contain provisions for reasonable accommodations. State law requires accommodations for “pregnancy-related conditions,” similar to the way it requires accommodations for employees with disabilities. See N.Y. Exec. L. at §§ 292(21-f), 296(3). City law requires reasonable accommodations for “pregnancy, childbirth, or a related medical condition,” as well as “lactation accommodations.” N.Y.C. Admin. Code § 8-107(22).

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