Supreme Court Decides Pregnancy Discrimination Case
The United States Supreme Court ruled this morning that pregnant workers may be able to prevail in a civil lawsuit claiming lack of accommodations for pregnant workers. In Young v. UPS, the plaintiff Peggy Young alleged that she had been discriminated against in violation of the Pregnancy Discrimination Act because UPS refused to grant her light work duties, an accommodation granted to workers who were injured on the job. UPS had argued that light duty is offered only to those with on the job injury limitations (UPS has since revised its policies). The Court ruled that Young, or another similarly situated plaintiff, may be able to prevail on such a lawsuit by showing that such a policy, although facially neutral, has an illegal disparate impact on pregnant workers.
