According to a report on MSNBC, The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) reports that they are seeing more complaints, and more suits filed, on behalf of pregnant women who have been discriminated against.
“The increase in pregnancy discrimination charge filings and lawsuits is cause for concern,” says David Grinberg, a spokesman for the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Such charges filed with the EEOC, state and local agencies jumped nearly 19 percent to a record 4,901 last year, from 3,977 in 1997. And, he adds, “pregnancy discrimination lawsuits by EEOC have increased about threefold from six or fewer per year in the early to late 1990s, to 16 or more per year since 2001.”
Not only are women being discriminated against by not being hired or being fired because of pregnancy, but one of the biggest issues is how much time an employee can take after the baby is born.
Under the Family and Medical Leave Act, workers who are employed by firms with 50 employees or more and have worked for a company for at least 12 months have to provide 12 weeks of unpaid leave to employees for medical reasons including pregnancy and the birth of a child.
Often disputes arise when employers either don’t honor that or employees take more than 12 weeks, only to find their job has been given away.
If a pregnant woman is treated differently than other workers due to her pregnancy or recent childbirth, then she might have a discrimination claim. Educating employees about discrimination in the workplace is the only way to make all staff aware of the wide variety of ways in which they might discriminate against, or be discriminated against.
