PDA And Young: Pregnancy Discrimination Law To Break From Its Infancy

On the heels of the Hobby Lobby decision in late June, the Supreme Court has signaled that women's health issues in the workplace will continue to be a central issue by granting a petition for certiorari in Young v. United Parcel Service on July 1, 2014. In Young, the Court will examine whether the Pregnancy Discrimination Act ("PDA"), which provides that pregnant women "shall be treated the same for all employment-related purposes...as other persons...similar in their ability or inability to work," requires employers to provide work accommodations to pregnant women to the same extent they provide them to other disabled workers. The Court's review of Young comes at a time when pregnancy discrimination laws are gaining more attention and more traction, and litigation in this area is increasing.

Federal and state legislatures have been acting to expand required accommodations to pregnant women in the workplace. Nationwide, Congress is considering the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act ("PWFA"), which would require employers to provide "reasonable accommodations" to pregnant employees. Although the PWFA has been stalled in committee for the last year, President Obama just last month called for lawmakers to pass the PWFA. State and local lawmakers are also getting into the mix. For example, California, New York, and New Jersey have all recently enacted new protections for pregnant employees.

Additionally, the EEOC is taking action in the area of pregnancy discrimination. The agency recently has announced its plans to issue new guidance regarding an employer's obligation to reasonably accommodate pregnant employees. Further, the EEOC's Strategic Enforcement Plan...