An employee works as a speech-language pathologist in a large, metropolitan school district, traveling between two elementary schools and a high school. After giving birth, she requests a private space for lactation within each assigned school. The school district agrees, but the private space it provides to her in the high school was on a different floor than her work area.
Wednesday, November 29, 2023
Does it matter where you place an employee’s lactation space? (tl;dr: yes.)
An employee works as a speech-language pathologist in a large, metropolitan school district, traveling between two elementary schools and a high school. After giving birth, she requests a private space for lactation within each assigned school. The school district agrees, but the private space it provides to her in the high school was on a different floor than her work area.
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Tuesday, August 15, 2023
Not all reasonable accommodation standards are created equally
Consider this example, and then let's talk.
Lydia works as a cellar person in a brewery. The essential functions of her job include the ability to lift up to 40 lbs. and to move kegs that weigh as much as 160 lbs. She delivers a note from her doctor that says, "No lifting or moving more than 10 pounds."
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Monday, August 14, 2023
Pregnant Workers Fairness Act and pregnancy loss
Missy, a newly hired server in the taproom of a brewery, suffers a miscarriage and asks her manager for ten days of leave to recover. As a new employee, Missy has not yet accrued any paid leave. The employer is too small to be covered by the FMLA and does not have a policy providing any unpaid leave.
Must the brewery grant Missy her requested ten days of post-miscarriage leave?
Historically, the answer could have been no.
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Tuesday, June 20, 2023
Is your business prepared for the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act?
Consider the following scenarios:
- A pregnant employee has already used her annual allotment of FMLA leave and has no FMLA leave available to use for any reason.
- A pregnant employee has worked for you less than one year and therefore does not qualify for FMLA leave.
- You have fewer than 50 employees and therefore none of your employees, including your pregnant employees, qualify for FMLA leave.
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Thursday, January 5, 2023
While I was away, Congress pumped life into workplace rights of pregnant employees and new moms
Two laws — the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act and the Providing Urgent Maternal Protections (PUMP) for Nursing Mothers Act — took effect when President Biden signed the Consolidated Appropriations Act just before Christmas.
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Tuesday, November 15, 2022
EEOC Commissioner targets companies offering employees abortion travel benefits
In the wake of the Supreme Court's decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization that ended federal constitutional protections for abortions as a fundamental right, many employers in states in which abortions suddenly became illegal started offering employees out of state travel benefits for abortion access.
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Thursday, September 29, 2022
Correlation isn’t necessarily causation … except when it is
According to a recently filed EEOC lawsuit, Dollar General violated Title VII by firing a sales employee because of her pregnancy. More to the point, Dollar General, the EEOC alleges, fired her immediately after she advised her manager of her pregnancy. It listed "health" as the reason for her termination on her separation notice, after advising her of concerns for her safety.
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Thursday, September 15, 2022
Pre-employment pregnancy testing?
I was tagged on Twitter to address this situation.
My friend did a drug test for a part time job for the local school district. When she got her results, she found out that the district also did a pregnancy test. Besides ethical issues, this seems like a legal red flag given she wasn't told this would be done.
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Wednesday, August 17, 2022
Walmart wins discrimination claim brought on behalf of pregnant employees unable to work
Consider the following two policies:
- Employees injured on the job will be offered Temporary Alternative Duty ("TAD") — light duty that enables the injured workers to keep working and earning their full wages while complying with any relevant medical restrictions.
- Pregnant employees with lifting or other physical restrictions related to pregnancy are required to go on an unpaid leave of absence, and no TAD is or will be made available.
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Tuesday, July 19, 2022
Abortion travel benefits don’t discriminate against non-abortion-seeking pregnant workers
Within hours of the Supreme Court releasing its opinion in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization and reversing Roe v. Wade, DICK'S Sporting Goods announced that it will provide up to $4,000 in travel expense reimbursement for an employee, spouse, or dependent enrolled in its medical plan (plus one support person) to travel to the nearest location where abortion care is legally available.
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Wednesday, June 29, 2022
“Abortion discrimination” = illegal pregnancy discrimination … even after Dobbs
Is it legal to fire an employee who has an abortion? This is question that a lot of employers and employees will now be asking in light of the Supreme Court's decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization that that there is no constitutional right to abortion.
As controversial and divisive of an issue as abortion is (perhaps now more than ever), the law is clear that an employer cannot fire an employee for having one. Nothing the Supreme Court did in Dobbs changes this.
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Monday, June 27, 2022
The best response to the end of Roe v. Wade came from a company called DICK’S
At DICK’S, our teammates are the heart of our business, and we are committed to protecting their health and well-being.…
In response to today's ruling, we are announcing that if a state one of our teammates lives in restricts access to abortion, DICK'S Sporting Goods will provide up to $4,000 in travel expense reimbursement to travel to the nearest location where that care is legally available. This benefit will be provided to any teammate, spouse or dependent enrolled in our medical plan, along with one support person.
We recognize people feel passionately about this topic -- and that there are teammates and athletes who will not agree with this decision. However, we also recognize that decisions involving health and families are deeply personal and made with thoughtful consideration. We are making this decision so our teammates can access the same health care options, regardless of where they live, and choose what is best for them.
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Wednesday, January 12, 2022
Pumping up workplace lactation rights
The U.S. Department of Labor has reached a settlement with Labcorp over allegations that it failed to provide lactating employees a space for them to express milk privately without fear of intrusion.
The investigation stemmed from an allegation of one employee in the company's Lynwood, California, location. DOL investigators determined that when the employee asked for a private place to express her breast milk, supervisors offered a common space that resulted in her being interrupted twice. As result, and per its settlement with the DOL, Labcorp has agreed, for all of its 2,000-plus locations nationwide, to "provide a private space as required with a notification on the door to guarantee an intrusion-free space."
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Thursday, February 4, 2021
No, you don’t get to keep your paid leave after your position is eliminated

[A] number of ex-Trump political officials … lost their parental leave when Joe Biden was sworn into office. It's a byproduct of the field they're in: Their boss (the president) may have been the one let go, but his departure has meant that they, too, lose their jobs and benefits. Still, they argue that the Biden administration should have honored their leave by keeping them on payroll until the end of it — a request that … the Biden transition did not grant.
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Monday, January 13, 2020
CBS News misrepresents an employer’s obligation to accommodate an employee’s pregnancy
I watched with great interest yesterday story on CBS Sunday Morning about an employer’s obligation to accommodate an employee’s pregnancy. The report told the stories of various women who lost their jobs because their employers refused to reasonably accommodate their pregnancies, all in the context of a call to pass a federal law mandating reasonable accommodations for pregnant workers.
According to CBS News: “[U]nder the current federal law, while employers are prohibited from firing or refusing to hire pregnant workers, they aren’t always required to make any on-the-job accommodations, such as offering more bathroom breaks or temporary desk jobs.”
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Tuesday, October 1, 2019
Why are so many employers discriminating against lactating moms?
Women were told to pump in their manager’s office or a meeting room without locks, where they were walked in on repeatedly. Many had to pump in view of security cameras. In two separate cases, restaurant workers were instructed to pump behind the bread racks, leaving them partly visible to colleagues and customers.
Those who do find an appropriate space often don’t receive the time they need to fully empty their breasts. A McDonald’s worker was yelled at and ordered to return to work before she was done pumping. A Family Dollar worker asked for more time to pump and got demoted to part-time. A spa employee was required to sign a piece of paper agreeing that she wouldn’t take any more breaks. Her inability to pump caused her to leak milk from her breasts while she worked.
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Thursday, September 19, 2019
Accommodating pregnant employees is a legal floor, not a ceiling
UPS has agreed to pay $2.25 million to settle a pregnancy discrimination charge investigated by the EEOC. The agency was to consider whether UPS’s policy of providing light duty as an accommodation to employees injured on the job, but not to pregnant employees, violated Title VII. The policy the agency was investigating appears to predate the Supreme Court’s 2015 decision in Young v. UPS.
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Thursday, August 15, 2019
Government sanctioned discrimination is abhorrent and we, as a nation, should be ashamed
Trigger warning: today’s post is not for everyone. If, however, you are offended by what I am about to say, then today’s post is specifically for you.
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Monday, July 22, 2019
Parental discrimination claims pose big risks for employers
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Thursday, May 16, 2019
Abortion discrimination = pregnancy discrimination
Thanks to, among other states, Alabama, Georgia, and Ohio (sorry about that last one), the debate over abortion is raging. Suppose you are staunchly anti-abortion, and you learn that one of your employees is considering, or has had, an abortion. Can you fire her?
Thus far, three courts have looked at this issue, and all three courts have all reached the same conclusion.
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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