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Posts from the ‘Pregnancy Discrimination’ Category

Dec 27

5 Ways to Commit Pregnancy Discrimination

By Jack Tuckner, Esq.

There are at least five principle ways that you can be discriminated against at work based on your pregnancy. The first way is just direct discrimination based on your notification of pregnancy, or when your employer notices that you’re pregnant and treats you differently, demotes you, fires you, makes discriminatory statements about your pregnancy, about the coming maternity leave that you’ll be taking, about their perception of your ability to work in the same way that you worked prior to your pregnancy – all of that is direct sex and pregnancy discrimination. If you’re experiencing hostility on the basis of your pregnancy when your employer learns about it, or they fail to hire you because of your pregnancy, that’s direct pregnancy discrimination.

The second way that your employer can discriminate against you based on your pregnancy is a failure to accommodate, to reasonably accommodate your pregnancy-related challenges or needs. So, flexibility for pregnancy-related limitations, flexibility for the additional times and frequency that you’ll need to take breaks and use the lavatory, or visit your OB-GYN for tests, or to have morning sickness – they need to be flexible unless it’s an “undue hardship,” a provable undue hardship on the business, the employer must be flexible and accommodate your pregnancy.

The third way that your employer can discriminate against you is to not provide maternity leave, when your baby is born. Employers come up with all kinds of excuses saying they’re too small, or you haven’t worked there long enough – none of that is legitimate. If you are not accorded a reasonable period of time to recover from childbirth, the standards are typically, minimally, six weeks for a vaginal delivery, and eight weeks for Caesarean section, minimally, it is sex, pregnancy, and disability discrimination, because you cannot work for a certain period of time, postpartum.

The fourth way your employer can discriminate against you is to not restore you to the same position that you had prior to your maternity leave, or to a comparable position, and/or to treat you worse, or badly, because they’re resentful that you’ve just been out for 8 to 12 weeks, and now when you come back you’re being punished or treated differently as a result of taking that protected leave – that’s illegal pregnancy discrimination.

And the fifth way that you can be discriminated against postpartum, is when you come back from maternity leave and your employer doesn’t have a safe, clean private space for you to express milk, to pump milk for your baby, when you’re lactating. That is also pregnancy discrimination.

If you’re experiencing any of these kinds of sexist, discriminatory, pregnancy-based challenges at work, feel free to give me a call – my name is Jack Tuckner. Or, call this office and speak with Deborah O’Rell. Or, shoot me an email and we will be happy to consult with you in total confidence, free of charge, to see how we may be able to assist and empower you during this challenging time at work.

Jul 4

Happy July 4th! Paid Maternity Leave Finally a Reality in NY!

By Jack Tuckner, Esq.

Happy July 4th!
Hopefully you’re lucky enough to have gotten the day off from work, and even more lucky to be paid for the day off from work. That’s not nothing; that’s something actually to celebrate, given the state of most people’s employment in the United States in 2018.

But here’s something that’s tougher to celebrate: did you know that the United States is one of only four countries on Planet Earth that don’t pay working women when they have babies, and can’t work during the time that they’re on what’s commonly called maternity leave? One of four countries in the world. Can you name the other three countries whose company we keep in matters of family values? Two of them are Swaziland and Lesotho–I believe that’s how it’s pronounced but I’ve never heard it pronounced so I have no idea–two high-altitude, apparently landlocked countries somewhere in and around South Africa. And the third country is Papua New Guinea in a place known as Oceana, a place so remote that I looked it up and I still don’t know where it is – a place that you have to stop in Australia on your way there, in the deepest, furthest reaches of the Pacific Ocean, a country on the least developed countries’ list for factors such as low socioeconomic and human rights development. And then there’s us – the fourth country to round out the only four.

And speaking of the paltry number four, there are only four states in the United States that provide for paid family leave when an employed working woman goes out on leave to have her baby. And those laws were just recently enacted, such as the New York Paid Family Leave Law one of four states. The other three are California, New Jersey, and Rhode Island. And New York’s Paid Family Leave law was just enacted this January 2018. If you work in one of the other 46 states when your baby is born, you’re entitled to ugatz–that’s old Latin for, you’re-lucky-we’re-even-letting-you-take-time-off-after-your-C-section-and-allow-you-to-come-back-to-a-job-at-all.

But here’s one thing all pregnant working women in the United States now have in every State in the Union, and that’s the right not to be treated differently, not to experience hostility, backlash, a diminution, a degradation to the terms or the conditions or the privileges of your employment because of your pregnancy, because of your childbirth, or because of a related medical condition. And employers must now be flexible with pregnant women and reasonably accommodate their pregnancy-related physical, medical challenges, and employers are not permitted to discriminate or retaliate against pregnant women due to their gestational status or because of taking time off for pregnancy-related disabilities, or because of maternity leave – taking time to heal and bond with your baby after your baby is born.

It’s that simple – if you’re experiencing pregnancy-related discrimination, hostility, retaliation, differential treatment because you’re pregnant – number one: don’t quit. You may be tempted, but if you quit, you are giving up your power, you’re giving up your case, you are throwing out the baby with the bathwater, to coin a phrase. So don’t do it. Number two: put your pregnancy, the fact of your pregnancy or any complaint about your treatment related to your pregnancy, in writing to your company. Mostly to have a provable paper trail that you’re giving your employer the opportunity to reasonably accommodate you, to be notified of your pregnancy, to be flexible, to not discriminate against you, and to fix, correct, remediate any differential treatment that you are experiencing due to your pregnancy. And three: if it can’t be resolved, if your employer escalates the hostility, if things start falling apart at work, contact an employee rights attorney in your area, someone who knows the best strategies to share with you to empower yourself.

Jun 30

Nothing’s more important than the health of your baby

By Jack Tuckner, Esq.

Nothing’s more important than your health, and the health of your unborn baby. But your employer may not feel that way.

To the company, your pregnancy is a bit of a pain in their ass. You have extra needs, you have additional doctors appointments, you may have morning sickness, you may have pregnancy-related medical problems, or pre-existing issues exacerbated by the pregnancy; you may need time to sit down at work, you may need time to express milk after your baby is born, when you get back from maternity leave. You may need, and you will need a maternity leave when your baby is born. Your employer sees all of this as against its bottom line – it’s not a profit-making enterprise, your baby making. And so, you may find that your employer pushes back on the notion of being flexible with you, caring about you, when you’re pregnant.

The good news is, they must care about you when you’re pregnant because the law requires a reasonable accommodation, so-called, of your pregnancy, and anything related to it, and to you as a woman with child. If you’re struggling with work-related, pregnancy related challenges while you’re working, just understand that it is illegal even if your employer doesn’t know it. And don’t give up, don’t despair. If you live outside of New York, you may want to consult with an employment lawyer – an employee-side, Plaintiff-side, employee rights lawyer, who’ll know your local jurisdiction’s rules, and will help empower you so that you can navigate these difficult times, teach your employer what it must do, and if the employer refuses to, you’ll be in a much stronger position to teach it a lesson, and to take care of yourself, and your unborn child, who will soon be born.

If you work in New York, feel free, or if you work anywhere and have any questions about your pregnancy-related issues, feel free to call us to call me – I’m Jack Tuckner; or to call Deborah O’Rell at our women’s rights in the workplace law firm based in New York, and in Upstate, New York. And we will consult with you free of charge to see if we can assist you. Remember, don’t give up, don’t throw out the baby with the bathwater, to coin a phrase. Document your pregnancy, tell your employer in writing that you’re pregnant, ask about its pregnancy policies. If you’re being treated poorly as a result of your pregnancy, put it in writing, complain about it, even if you don’t think that your employer will care – they may not, but you want to have a paper trail. Very important. This is what civil rights are all about, this is what it means to empower yourself and to change the workplace and change the world, so it is actually family values oriented, so that your employer actually has to express care towards you – as a female who is pregnant, and still trying to balance, having a life, and having a job.

Jun 16

Pregnancy Discrimination Is Rampant Inside America’s Biggest Companies

The New York Times reviewed thousands of pages of court and public records and interviewed dozens of women, their lawyers and government officials. A clear pattern emerged. Many of the country’s largest and most prestigious companies still systematically sideline pregnant women. They pass them over for promotions and raises. They fire them when they complain.

In physically demanding jobs — where an increasing number of women unload ships, patrol streets and hoist boxes — the discrimination can be blatant. Pregnant women risk losing their jobs when they ask to carry water bottles or take rest breaks.

In corporate office towers, the discrimination tends to be more subtle. Pregnant women and mothers are often perceived as less committed, steered away from prestigious assignments, excluded from client meetings and slighted at bonus season.

To learn more about pregnancy discrimination in the workplace, please click here.

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