The Pregnancy Discrimination Act is an amendment to Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and prohibits discrimination by employers on the basis of pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions. Pregnant women must be treated in the same manner as other job applicants or employees.
It is illegal for an employer to refuse to hire a pregnant woman as long as she is able to perform the major functions of the job. For existing employees, it is illegal to single out pregnancy related conditions for special procedures to determine an employee's ability to work and if an employee is temporarily unable to perform her job due to pregnancy, the employer must treat her the same as any other temporarily disabled employee and employers must hold open a job for a pregnancy related absence the same length of time jobs are held open for employees on sick or disability leave.
In addition, the law requires that any health insurance provided by an employer must cover expenses for pregnancy related conditions on the same basis as costs for other medical conditions and pregnancy related expenses should be reimbursed exactly as those incurred for other medical conditions.
Contact Lori Ecker for superior representation and counsel in all pregnancy discrimination matters.