b'Pregnancy Discrimination ActWho, What, Why . . . Who does it apply to:The law applies to all employers with 15pregnant employees. Of course, in the real world, the policy, or more employees. the violation, and the impact will likely be much more subtle so these claims are often much more complicated to bring.What is the issue: Title VII was passed in the 1960s to protect againstdiscriminationbasedonrace,color,religion,sexorWhatifmyemployeeviolateswithoutmyconsent:Choose national origin.Since that time, other laws have been passedcarefully who you place in charge. Employees placed in positions adding protection against discrimination toward other groups. of authority with the power to control the circumstances of other The Pregnancy Discrimination Act (PDA) was passed in 1978employeesarenotpersonallyliable. Theirliabilityisplaced to modify Title VII to specifically protect against discriminationwith the employer, even if the employee acts without authority. based on.you guessed it.pregnancy. The same is true of independent contractors (whether properly characterizedornot)placedinpositionsofauthorityover WhatamIrequiredtodo:Employersarerequirednottoemployees.discriminateagainstemployeesonthebasisofpregnancy, childbirth,orrelatedmedicalconditions.Morespecifically,Hasnt this law been in the news lately: Why, yes. Yes it has.A employersarerequirednottotreatanemployeeadverselyfew years ago, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission because of these characteristics in any significant aspect of(EEOC)issuednewguidanceforemployersregardingthe employment. scope of protection for women under the PDA. Even though the PDA does not provide any of these protections in writing What constitutes a violation: There are two kinds of violations:and pregnancy is not a disability, the EEOC has decided it will direct mistreatment and disparate impact.enforce the PDA as though pregnant employees must be givenDirectmistreatmentisstraightforward.Ifanemployerthe same protections a disabled person under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).affirmatively mistreats an employee because of pregnancy by failing to hire, firing, demoting, or any other type of significantSpecifically, the EEOC now insists that employers reasonably slight someone might dream up, it can be actionable asaccommodate pregnant employees. For example an employer pregnancy discrimination.wouldneedtoredistributenon-essentialfunctionsofthe Disparate impactis more subtle. If an employer createspregnant employees job duties to others, modify a pregnant a policy that is neutral or non-discriminatory on its face,employeesworkscheduletotakemorebreaks,ormodify thatpolicymighthaveaconsequenceofnegativelyequipment or seating to make the workspace more comfortable impacting pregnant workers more significantly than others. forpregnantemployees.Additionally,theEEOCwants An employer policy that employees who like pickles and iceemployers to implement light-duty policies for pregnant workers cream together must be fired is not discriminatory on its faceto allow for different job duties during pregnancy or an altered because it may affect any worker. That said, conventionalwork schedule.wisdom suggests that women like strange food combinations during pregnancy.This facially neutral rule has a disparateDo I have to follow the EEOC guidance: Yes and no. While the (greater)impactonpregnantworkersandmaycreateEEOCs guidance will probably not stand up in court as the law aclaimfordiscriminationagainsttheemployerastoallexists right now, it will cost a lot of money to fight it. Plus, there 51'