More Pregnancy Discrimination News
A few weeks ago, we reported here on some intriguing developments under the Pregnancy Discrimination Act. As we discussed, employers that are overly paternalistic in dealing with pregnant employees can find themselves in legal hot water.
An article in the USA Today helps illustrate the problems with that approach. Apparently, when management at New York’s Bridges and Tunnels Authority discovered that one of its officers was pregnant, it declared her ”unfit for duty, stripped her of her gun and sent her to work in a tollbooth.”
The Authority says its actions were “guided by the advice of our agency’s medical doctor.” The employee, however, claims her personal doctor cleared her to work.
According to union officials, other women have been “sidelined” for being pregnant. “Word got around that officers would lose their gun if pregnant. One woman didn’t say a word until she was six months pregnant when her own doctor suggested she stop,” said one official. “It’s like it’s still 1950 or something.”
Click here to read more. The comments below the article are particularly interesting.
