Accommodating Pregnant Workers After Young v. UPS: Navigating New Obligations Absent Clear Court Guidance

Description

In March 2015, the U.S. Supreme Court held the PDA could require employers to offer reasonable work accommodations—such as light duty—to pregnant workers if they offer accommodations to other workers similarly situated in their ability or inability to work. The Court declined deference to the EEOC’s 2014 Enforcement Guidance on Pregnancy Discrimination (and was somewhat dismissive of it), choosing to fashion its own framework for establishing discrimination under the PDA.

Employers hoping the Court’s decision might provide clear guidelines on how best to accommodate pregnant workers are instead facing uncertainty, since the Court failed to articulate what constitutes a legitimate, nondiscriminatory reason for denying accommodation to a pregnant worker. Instead, the case was remanded to the 4th Circuit with instructions to analyze the issue from a disparate impact perspective. Employers must now attempt to reconcile the Court’s decision with a maze of federal and state statutes and regulatory agencies protecting pregnant workers from discrimination and retaliation.

Listen as our distinguished panel of employment counsel discusses best practices for reviewing accommodation policies and practices to ensure compliance with the PDA under the Court’s new framework. The panel will review the Court’s decision and offer guidance on crafting policies that avoid discrimination and retaliation claims under the various federal and state laws governing pregnancy accommodation.