Employment Law Report
EEOC Sues Employers For Alleged Violations of Pregnant Workers Fairness Act
By: Michelle D. Wyrick
In September, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) filed four lawsuits against employers for alleged violations of the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (“PWFA”). The PWFA requires covered employers to provide reasonable accommodations to qualified employees and applicants with limitations due to pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions, unless doing so would impose an undue hardship on the employer.
The EEOC filed the first federal case under the PWFA, EEOC v. Wabash National Corporation, Case No. 5:24-cv-00148-BJB, in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Kentucky. The case includes claims that the employer violated the PWFA when it failed to accommodate an employee’s pregnancy-related limitation and subjected her to an unlawful medical inquiry. The complaint alleges that the employer denied a pregnant employee’s request to transfer to a job that did not require her to lay on her stomach and instead forced her to take unpaid leave. The EEOC also contends that the employer unlawfully required medical documentation and failed to accommodate the pregnant worker even though it accommodated non-pregnant workers with similar limitations.
Subsequently, the EEOC filed suit under the PWFA against two more employers. In EEOC v. Polaris Industries, Inc., Case 5:24-cv-1305, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama, the EEOC alleged that the employer refused to excuse an employee’s absences for pregnancy-related conditions and medical appointments, and required her to work mandatory overtime despite her physician’s restrictions limiting her to working no more than forty hours per week during her pregnancy. The EEOC also alleges that the employer assessed attendance points against her and warned that her employment would be terminated if she acquired another point.
In EEOC v. Urologic Specialists of Oklahoma, Inc., Case 4:24-cv-0452, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Oklahoma, the EEOC sued a medical practice, alleging that it violated the PWFA and the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”) when it did not allow a medical assistant to sit, take breaks, or work part-time as her physician stated was necessary to protect her health and safety during the final trimester of her high-risk pregnancy. Instead, the practice forced her to take unpaid leave and refused to guarantee that she would have breaks to express breast milk. When she refused to return to work without those guaranteed breaks, the employer terminated her employment.
The EEOC also filed a fourth suit under the PWFA in September. In EEOC v. Bleumel, Case No. 24-cv-2816, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland, the EEOC sued a commercial nursery, alleging that it failed to accommodate a pregnant worker and subsequently terminated her employment. The EEOC claims that when the pregnant worker attempted to return from maternity leave, the employer advised her that no work was available. Instead, the employer hired non-pregnant individual both before and after the pregnant worker attempted to return to work.
By filing these lawsuits and conciliating other charges against employers under the PWFA, the EEOC is demonstrating its intent to vigorously enforce the new law. Employers should ensure that their policies include PWFA compliance, and that supervisors and managers have been adequately trained about the PWFA’s requirements.
