Pregnancy Discrimination Can Happen Even If You Are Not Pregnant
Pregnancy Discrimination
When your children are young, you can easily feel like judgment from other mothers follows you everywhere you go. Every baby bottle, every “Baby Shark” video, and every jacket that is too heavy or too light invites a firestorm of criticism from women whose children are older than yours, younger than yours, or close to the same age. Once your kids have gone to kindergarten, or even after they have entered the workforce, though, it is fun to compare notes with other mothers about how easy or difficult your pregnancy is. Years later, it is easy to laugh about how, for nine long months, the only food you could tolerate was animal style fries from In-N-Out Burger. Of course, how difficult your pregnancy is depends not only on physical symptoms but on how much more difficult your employer makes life for you. If an employee is accusing you of discriminating against her because of her pregnancy, contact a California employment law attorney.
Are Pregnant Women Entitled to Accommodations in the Workplace?
Employment discrimination occurs when an employer takes an adverse action against an employee because of a protected characteristic. The following are examples of adverse actions:
- Excessive scrutiny or micromanagement
- Harassment, whether verbal or physical
- Unfairly negative performance reviews
- Changing the employee’s work location, schedule, or duties when the employee did not request this
- Denial of promotions and raises
- Reduction of pay
- Termination of employment
Pregnancy is a protected characteristic, as are race, religion, sex, age, national origin, marital status, sexual orientation, and disability. As with disability accommodations, employers must make reasonable accommodations for pregnant employees. When an employee discloses her pregnancy to the employer, the employer should ask if the employee requires accommodations and, if so, which accommodations she needs. For example, she might need to sit during tasks where most employees stand, or she might need to modify her schedule to accommodate doctors’ appointments.
Pregnancy Discrimination Can Happen Even If You Are Not Pregnant
Employment discrimination related to pregnancy can also happen when an employee is not pregnant. For example, it is illegal for an employer to count it against an employee or job applicant that she is a young woman who may become pregnant in the future. Likewise, it counts as a hostile work environment, which is a type of discrimination, if an employer asks an employee personal questions or makes comments about her future plans for having children, regardless of whether she is married or in a long-term relationship. It is also discriminatory to tell an employee that she looks pregnant, whether she is not pregnant or is pregnant, but has not yet told anyone at work about her pregnancy. Employees who experience pregnancy discrimination must get authorization from the EEOC before they can file an employment discrimination lawsuit.
Contact SNR Law Group About Pregnancy Discrimination
An employment law attorney can help you if a current or former employee is accusing you of pregnancy discrimination. Contact SNR Law Group in Tustin, California, to discuss your case.
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