Today’s lesson is about the interplay between the Americans with Disabilities Act, which requires employers to accommodate known disabilities absent undue hardship, and the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, which took effect last year and also requires an employer to accommodate known limitations related to, affected by, or arising out of pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions unless doing so will result in an undue hardship.
Suppose one of your workers who is well into her pregnancy experiences a stillbirth. As one could imagine, the sudden loss causes the worker to endure significant physical and mental trauma. The emotional toll might result in depression, which would substantially limit one or more major life activities, like working, thinking, and concentrating. The employee may also need time to recover physically from this pregnancy-related medical condition.
Now, suppose the employee needs a few weeks off to recover and validates that request with a doctor’s note. In that case, both the ADA and the PWFA require the employer to engage in an interactive process with the individual to discuss possible accommodations, including time off from work.
But don’t just take my word for it. Law360 reported that the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission sued an employer that allegedly fired four days after she experienced a stillbirth and one day after she provided a letter from her doctor confirming the pregnancy loss and informing her employer that she would need approximately six weeks to recuperate physically and grieve.
If true, the employer’s actions violate the PWFA because:
- the employee suffered from a known limitation that was related to, affected by, or arose out of pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical condition (i.e., stillbirth),
- she asked for time off to recover (which the EEOC notes is an example of a reasonable accommodation),
- she could perform the essential functions of her job with that accommodation without causing the employer any undue hardship, and
- the employer failed to provide it.
There’s also an ADA violation lurking here. According to the EEOC, the employee suffered a pregnancy-related disability (depression), and rather than explore a possible reasonable accommodation, the employer fired her instead.
This is one of a slew of lawsuits that the EEOC commenced last month involving the alleged failure to provide pregnancy-related accommodations. Fortunately, the EEOC also has good resources for employees, employers, and healthcare providers, which are available here. For more information on pregnancy discrimination in general, check out this EEOC resource.