The EEOC has revised its guidance on the Pregnancy Discrimination Act following a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision holding that women may be able to prove unlawful pregnancy discrimination if the employer accommodated some workers but refused to accommodate pregnant women.
The court ruled that employer policies that are not intended to discriminate on the basis of pregnancy may still violate the Pregnancy Discrimination Act if the policy imposes significant burdens on pregnant employees without a sufficiently strong justification. That law applies to both the federal and the private sectors.
The revision does not change most aspects of existing EEOC guidance regarding the law in areas including its application to current, past, and potential pregnancy;termination or refusal to hire someone because she is pregnant and other prohibited employment actions based on pregnancy;application of the PDA to lactation and breastfeeding;prohibition of forced leave policies;the obligation to treat women and men the same with respect to parental leave policies; andaccess to health insurance.
The court’s opinion did not address the effect of the ADA Amendments Act of 2008 on workers with pregnancy-related impairments. Changes to the definition of disability under that law made it easier for pregnant workers with pregnancy-related impairments to demonstrate that they have disabilities for which they may be entitled to a reasonable accommodation under the ADA.
