EEOC: Employees were assigned to various light duty positions that affected their ability to work overtime or earn additional compensation. Image: Thomas Carlson/Shutterstock.com
The EEOC has certified a class action case against the CBP in which a group of employees argued that they suffered financial losses and damage to their careers when the agency put them on light duty involuntarily on learning the were pregnant, and without assessing whether they could continue performing their regular duties.
The EEOC for example cited evidence that members of the class who normally carried weapons “were required to return their weapons because they were pregnant and had to requalify upon their return to full duty. They were then assigned to various light duty positions, such as cashier positions, which affected their ability to work overtime or earn additional compensation, such as night differential pay.”
The assignments also affected their “abilities to qualify for promotions; take trainings; and bid on positions,” it said in agreeing with a hearing officer that the complaint should be handled as a class action.
“Multiple employees added that they were told that they were a “liability” because they were pregnant” and one “averred that she hid her pregnancy for as long as possible because she was aware from the experiences of other pregnant employees that she would be immediately instructed to go on light duty due to her pregnancy,” it said.
“Despite working at different duty stations across the country, these declarations reveal that employees were treated in a consistent manner once the agency learned that they were pregnant,” it added in certifying as a class any employees who experienced such treatment since July 2016.
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