Pregnancy discrimination is defined as treating employees differently based on their pregnancy, childbirth or any other condition associated with their pregnancy. This includes differences in treatment, harassing a woman about her pregnancy, terminating a woman because she is pregnant, and also an employer’s failure to provide reasonable accommodations for the woman’s pregnancy-related disability.
If you believe that you have been a victim of pregnancy discrimination in the workplace, contact a Chattanooga pregnancy discrimination lawyer. A distinguished workplace discrimination attorney can provide you with the support, counsel, and defense you need during this stressful period.
What is the Pregnancy Discrimination Act?
Pregnant workers have the right to be treated like all other employees. This is why the Pregnancy Discrimination Act was created. The federal law that prohibits sex discrimination on the basis of pregnancy.
Pregnancy and Chattanooga Employment Law
There are four main types of pregnancy discrimination in the workplace that a Chattanooga pregnancy discrimination lawyer typically sees. These include work logistic discrimination, workplace harassment, family medical leave discrimination, and pregnancy-related disability discrimination. Each of these are explained in more detail below:
Work Logistics and Harassment
In terms of work logistics, discrimination usually includes firing a woman due to her pregnancy, denying a pregnant woman health insurance, denying a pregnant woman pay, denying a pregnant woman benefits, demoting a pregnant woman or denying her a promotion, and refusing to give a pregnant woman job assignments. Harassment includes mistreating a pregnant employee to create a hostile environment for her.
Family Medical Leave
In terms of family medical leave, the Family and Medical Leave Act, known as the FMLA, is a federal law that requires employers to provide up to 12 weeks of leave for certain injuries or other medical issues such as pregnancy. Both a mother and father of the child can take up to 12 weeks of maternity leave or paternity leave under the FMLA. Denying an employee these 12 weeks following a pregnancy is prohibited.
Pregnancy-Related Disability
During a pregnancy, a pregnant woman might need to have a more flexible schedule, take time off during the day for medical visits, eat more frequently, use the bathroom more frequently, or even work from home on occasion. An employer must provide reasonable accommodation for a woman with a pregnancy-related disability. However, as Chattanooga pregnancy discrimination lawyer’s have seen, this does not always happen.
The only way, an employee may not be required to provide accommodation to the employee, is if the accommodation creates undue hardship. That is, it would cost the employer a significant amount of money, create personnel issues, and derail the employer’s business. An employer can also require an employee to provide medical documentation from a doctor proving that they need the requested accommodation during their pregnancy.
Speaking to a Chattanooga Pregnancy Discrimination Attorney
If you have been a victim of workplace harassment based on your pregnancy, contact a pregnancy discrimination attorney in Chattanooga who can help you collect evidence, file your claim, and ultimately stand up the employer who violated your rights as an employee.
Pregnancy discrimination claims can be burdensome to pursue on your own, however with a patient and distinguished lawyer, the process can feel a lot less overwhelming. Chattanooga pregnancy discrimination lawyers can work with you until you emerge with a favorable outcome.
