Hoosier Banker 35 assignments, and requires that women be treated equally. Discrimination may include negative performance reviews, involuntary transfers, forced leave, demotions, unreasonable refusal to accommodate or a hostile work environment. The ADA may also come into play. Although pregnancy alone is not a disability, a pregnancy-related limitation or condition (e.g., gestational diabetes, pre-eclampsia) may substantially limit a major life activity and constitute a disability. Thus, if a female employee is temporarily unable to perform her job due to a medical condition related to pregnancy or childbirth, an employer must treat her like any other temporarily disabled employees and follow its ADA/ accommodations policy. An employer must engage in the interactive process to determine whether there are reasonable accommodations that may be made for the pregnant employee without causing an undue hardship. Pregnancy discrimination lawsuits continue to rise, despite a steady decline in the birth rate in the U.S. According to statistics published by Bloomberg Law, the number of claims in federal court have been rising steadily for the past five years, with a significant jump in the past two years. Some legal analysts believe that the rise in claims may correlate to the economic downturn in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic because pregnant employees are more vulnerable during those times when employers are doing furloughs, layoffs, closing facilities or otherwise downsizing, and are more likely to consider costs associated with parental leave, child care needs, and increased health care costs. The increase could also relate to myriad other issues employers have faced as employees are returning to work, including vaccine mandates, remote working, flex or hybrid schedules and other workplace accommodation requests. Unfortunately, stereotypes still exist, including that pregnant women may not perform as well as they did pre-pregnancy, that they are not fully committed to their jobs because of family responsibilities, or that they will miss too much work. Some employers continue to ask female applicants if they are planning to have children. Managers and supervisors continue to tell pregnant applicants and employees that they do not or cannot accommodate them, for example, because of concerns about their safety – even though the employer has policies to the contrary. Last year, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission sued a large automotive company for failing to hire a pregnant applicant. The applicant disclosed her pregnancy CHICAGO INDIANAPOLIS ST.LOUIS MILWAUKEE 201 North Illinois Street, Suite 1400 Capital Center, South Tower Indianapolis, Indiana 46204-4212 T: 317.464.4100 • F: 317.464.4101 • salawus.com No challenge too great… we’ll get you there. during a pre-employment physical and was cleared by the doctor to work, but the company did not schedule her for work and later told her that it was no longer hiring. A fitness company in New York recently settled a pregnancy discrimination case, in which it was alleged that the company used the COVID-19 pandemic as pretext for terminating a pregnant employee. The former employee alleged that shortly after Continued on page 36.
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