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The Employer Handbook BlogShe Requested a Pregnancy Accommodation. Her Overtime Disappeared. Then Her Job Did.
The employer approved light duty. Seventeen days later, it fired the pregnant employee over an alleged policy violation from two months earlier.
Articles Posted in Pregnancy
The Protected-Leave Problem That May Be Hiding in Performance Metrics
Protected leave can be approved on paper and penalized in a spreadsheet. A federal judge just allowed fourteen employment claims to proceed over an allegedly leave-blind performance system.
HR Said She Was Just There for the Maternity Benefits. See You in Court.
A warehouse worker started her job seven months pregnant. Thirteen weeks after delivering, she was fired. One sentence from the HR rep is why this case is going to trial.
Can employers make employees sign a contract shortening the time to bring Title VII and ADEA claims?
Some employers try. The Fourth Circuit just explained why that trick doesn’t work for these federal discrimination claims. Continue reading
When an Ultimatum Turns a “Resignation” Into a Jury Question
Constructive discharge is a high bar. But an ultimatum, delivered the wrong way and on the wrong timeline, can be enough to clear it.
That was the lesson from a recent federal court decision involving a pregnant employee who was told she could either keep working under at-will conditions or take six weeks of pay and leave immediately. The employer framed it as a choice. The court said a jury could see it as no choice at all. Continue reading
Even if they violate employment law, these employers can’t be sued
Did you know there’s a loophole in employment law big enough to fit an entire casino?
That’s not an exaggeration. In one recent case, an employee said she was pushed out after giving birth. She sued under the Fair Labor Standards Act. The court never even reached the merits because her employer was legally immune from being sued at all. Continue reading
Pumping rights after the PUMP Act: one employer’s old mistake, every employer’s modern lesson
An airline services company once thought a single scheduled break was enough time for a new mom to pump breast milk. The result? A federal lawsuit that is still headed to trial, and a reminder of what today’s PUMP for Nursing Mothers Act now makes crystal clear. Continue reading
The six words that helped turn a layoff into a lawsuit
Sometimes it is not the reduction in force itself that creates risk, but the combination of what is said and how the data is applied. In this case, six words from a supervisor, “a potential strain on the department,” together with disputed productivity metrics and the treatment of a pregnant employee returning from FMLA leave, convinced the Sixth Circuit that a jury should decide. Continue reading
Five lessons for employers from a high-stakes performance review dispute
A performance review ended with a professor out of a job, and the employer defending itself in court. The problem? Remarks about maternity leave, inconsistent flexibility, and suspicious timing after a discrimination complaint. The appellate court said a jury should hear the case. Continue reading
Court Nixes Elective Abortion Accommodation Mandate—but Discriminate At Your Own Risk
The PWFA was designed to support pregnant workers.
But when the EEOC included abortion in the mix, a federal court hit pause. Continue reading