It’s amazing to me how many employers think they can fire workers because they’re pregnant. Or refuse to hire a qualified employee because she “looks pregnant.”

So it ought to be no surprise that the EEOC is indeed reporting an uptick in the number of complaints it’s seeing regarding pregnancy discrimination (link to MSNBC.com story). For the record, such actions do indeed violate Title VII’s provisions (amended with the Pregnancy Discrimination Act:

Such charges filed with the EEOC, state and local agencies jumped nearly 19 percent to a record 4,901 last year, from 3,977 in 1997. And, [a spokesman for EEOC] adds, “pregnancy discrimination lawsuits by EEOC have increased about threefold from six or fewer per year in the early to late 1990s, to 16 or more per year since 2001.”  Oops. Looks like many employers forgot to read the Pregnancy Discrimination Act, which is an amendment to Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964: Discrimination on the basis of pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions constitutes unlawful sex discrimination under Title VII. Women affected by pregnancy or related conditions must be treated in the same manner as other applicants or employees with similar abilities or limitations.

There you have it. There are limits to applicability relating to the number of employees, however, so speak to an attorney if you think you have been discriminated against on the basis of pregnancy or any other protected ground.

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