Pregnancy Discrimination
California law protects the rights of employees who are pregnant or have been using pregnancy leave. Pregnancy discrimination occurs when the employer fails to promote, demotes, fires or lays off by eliminating a pregnant employee’s position because the employee is pregnant, or has requested accommodation for being pregnant. If the employer has notice of the employee’s pregnancy, or has reason to know and believe that the employee is pregnant, and fails to accommodate employee’s pregnancy, then the employer might be liable for pregnancy discrimination under California Law.
Pregnancy discrimination can be the result of termination or layoff because a pregnant employee has requested pregnancy leave, or is using her protected pregnancy leave. In order to establish a claim of pregnancy discrimination, the employer should have notice of the pregnancy, and then takes an adverse employment action against the employee. Employers cannot harass or discriminate against a pregnant employee. The adverse employment action can be firing, demotion, reduction of hours, or reduction of pay.
Pregnancy discrimination occurs in the following scenarios:
- A pregnant employee is being wrongfully terminated during her pregnancy; in this case, the employer often tries to justify the termination by making excuses
- A pregnant employee is being demoted during her pregnancy. This could happen when the employer cuts the pregnant employee’s hours or reduces the hourly rate of the pregnant employee. Often the employer makes up excuses to justify the situation
- A prospective employer refuses to hire an employee as soon as the employer notices that the employee is pregnant.
- An employer discriminates against an employee for being pregnant and does not provide the pregnant employee with reasonable accommodation. Here, the reasonable accommodation for a pregnant employee includes changes in the pregnant employee’s schedule or giving the pregnant employee light duties. An employer has a duty to reasonably accommodate a pregnant employee.
- An employer forces a pregnant employee to take time off or not report to work during her pregnancy. This often results in loss of income for the employee.
- An employer who refuses to take the pregnant employee back after the end of her leave.
Lastly, the employer cannot retaliate against a pregnant employee if the pregnant employee complains about the conditions of the employment during her pregnancy.
Pregnancy discrimination also includes all sorts of retaliation based on pregnancy. If you made your employer aware of your pregnancy and requested to use family leave, then the employer cannot terminate your position by firing you or closing your position. In California, an employee who is disabled as a result of pregnancy can take up to 4 months of pregnancy disability leave (PDL) so long as she remains disabled. The employer is required to provide pregnancy disability leave when the employer has at least 5 or more employees. Moreover, if an employee uses pregnancy leave, then the employer has a duty to keep the position open until the employee returns back to work. In this scenario, if the employer eliminates the position while the pregnant employee is on leave, then there is a discrimination based on pregnancy.
Example: Alicia is a dental assistant and after 9 months of employment is pregnant with her first child. Alicia notifies her employer and requests some limited time off on a weekly basis to see her treating physician. A month later, Alicia’s employer tells her she is taking too much time off and Alicia will be let go. This is a blatant case of pregnancy discrimination since the only reason for Alicia’s termination is the fact that she is pregnant, and the employer fails to accommodate her request for seeing her treating physician.
Example 2: Karla is a packaging employee and has been working for the past two years. Karla informed her employer of her pregnancy. The employer suddenly decides to cut Karla’s hours. A couple of weeks later, the employer suddenly terminates her position by stating that they have closed her position. This is another type of pregnancy discrimination. Karla is being discriminated solely because of her pregnancy.
Can I use my time at work for lactation purposes?
All employers in California are required to allow mothers to take breaks to for lactation purposes (e.g. pump breast milk) This is known as a lactation break and the employer must allow the employee to spend time for lactation purposes, unless there is a serious interruption with the business of the employer. The employer must pay the employee for the time that the employee used during the lactation breaks, unless the employee used her own meal or rest break. In a pregnancy discrimination, an employee can recover general damages, corresponding to her lost wages, emotional distress, non-economical damages and attorney fees.
If you have been a victim of pregnancy discrimination, laid off during your pregnancy, harassed or retaliated by your employer because of your pregnancy, please call our team of experts at Employment Rights Lawyers, APC, today. We have prosecuted numerous cases based on pregnancy against employers and obtained favorable settlements on behalf of our clients.
