Pregnancy Accommodation

As most of you know, the Pregnancy Discrimination Act is an amendment to Title VII which prohibits discrimination because of pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions. An employer is subject to this Act if it employs 15 or more people. Now, a pregnant employee comes to you, the employer, with a doctor's note saying that she has a lifting restriction of ten (10) pounds. She is not medically disabled, so the Americans with Disabilities Act is not triggered. Do you have to accommodate her anyway? It depends. You must treat her the same way you treat "other individuals partially incapacitated." What does this mean? It means you have to accommodate her the same way you would someone who is not pregnant.



For example, one of your other employees had a temporary limitation (because he broke his arm at home) and you either changed his duties, or temporarily reassigned his duties that required the use of both his arms to someone else, or temporarily reassigned him to another job. You then returned him to his regular assignment as soon as he was physically able to use both arms.

Because you accommodated the employee with the broken arm, you have to accommodate the pregnant employee, or you may be found in violation of the Pregnancy Discrimination Act.

If you believe that accommodating your pregnant employee at this time is unreasonable for your business, call your employment law attorney before acting or notifying the pregnant employee of your intentions. An ounce of prevention really is worth a pound of cure.

Information in this blog is general information only. It should not be construed as legal advice and does not establish an attorney/client relationship.