EEOC Issues Updated Pregnancy Discrimination Guidance to Reflect Supreme Court Decision | Practical Law

EEOC Issues Updated Pregnancy Discrimination Guidance to Reflect Supreme Court Decision | Practical Law

The US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has issued an update to its Enforcement Guidance on Pregnancy Discrimination and Related Issues, a Q&A document and a fact sheet for small businesses. This update reflects the US Supreme Court's March 2015 decision in Young v. UPS.

EEOC Issues Updated Pregnancy Discrimination Guidance to Reflect Supreme Court Decision

by Practical Law Labor & Employment
Published on 30 Jun 2015 • USA (National/Federal)
The US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has issued an update to its Enforcement Guidance on Pregnancy Discrimination and Related Issues, a Q&A document and a fact sheet for small businesses. This update reflects the US Supreme Court's March 2015 decision in Young v. UPS.
On June 25, 2015, the EEOC announced that it had issued:
Most of the EEOC Guidance, initially issued in July 2014, remains the same (see Legal Update, EEOC Issues Updated Pregnancy Discrimination Enforcement Guidance). The updated Guidance reflects the US Supreme Court's March 2015 decision in Young v. UPS, in which the court:
  • Held that women may be able to prove discrimination based on pregnancy if the employer accommodated some workers, but would not accommodate pregnant workers.
  • Explained that an employer's policy that does not intend to discriminate based on pregnancy may still violate the Pregnancy Discrimination Act (PDA) if it significantly burdens pregnant employees without sufficiently strong justification.
(135 S. Ct. 1338, 191 L. Ed. 2d 279 (2015).)
Topics in the EEOC Guidance that are not affected by the Young v. UPS decision and have not changed include:
  • The PDA's coverage of discrimination based on past, current and potential pregnancy.
  • Lactation as a covered pregnancy-related condition.
  • The prohibition against requiring pregnant workers with the ability to do their jobs to take leave.
  • The obligation to treat women and men the same with respect to parental leave (as distinct from medical leave associated with childbearing or recovering from childbirth).
  • Access to health insurance.
  • The types of accommodations that may be necessary for workers with pregnancy-related impairments.
For more information on Young v. UPS, see Article, Expert Q&A: Young v. UPS and Its Impact on Pregnancy Accommodation and Discrimination Claims; Legal Update, SCOTUS Adopts New "Significant Burden" Test for Analyzing Pregnancy Discrimination Act Claims.