Women's Rights issue image

Hicks v Tuscaloosa

Location: Alabama
Status: Closed (Judgment)
Last Update: September 8, 2017

What's at Stake

Stephanie Hicks was a police officer working for the West Alabama Narcotics Task Force. Just eight days after Agent Hicks returned to work after her maternity leave, she was demoted to a position as a patrol officer.

Working patrol not only involved a pay cut and worse shifts 鈥 it also required her to wear a bullet-proof vest. Agent Hicks was still nursing her baby, who was only a few months old, and her doctor had warned her that the heavy and restrictive vest could interfere with her ability to continue breastfeeding and subject her to a risk of painful infection. When Hicks requested a desk job where she would not have to wear the vest, the department denied her request, even though officers were routinely provided the same accommodation for other reasons.

Her supervisors told her that she seemed 鈥渃hanged,鈥 and intimated that it was because she had the 鈥渂aby blues.鈥 They were also overheard complaining about the length of time she had taken off for maternity leave, referring to her as a 鈥渟tupid cunt,鈥 and saying they would 鈥渇ind any way鈥 to 鈥済et rid of that bitch.鈥

The 老澳门开奖结果 and the Center for WorkLife submitted a friend of the court brief on behalf of 22 women鈥檚 rights organizations and helped argue the case before the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals.

The 22 organizations the 老澳门开奖结果 and the Center for WorkLife Law submitted the amicus brief on behalf of include the 老澳门开奖结果 of Alabama, Inc., 9to5, A Better Balance, California Women鈥檚 Law Center, Equal Rights Advocates, Family Values @ Work, Feminist Majority Foundation, Gender Justice, Legal Aid Society 鈥 Employment Law Center, Legal Momentum, Legal Voice, National Association of Women Lawyers, National Association of Working Women, National Organization of Women, National Partnership for Women & Families, National Women鈥檚 Law Center, Southwest Women鈥檚 Law Center, Women Employed, Women鈥檚 Law Center of Maryland, Inc., Women鈥檚 Law Project, and the United States Breastfeeding Committee.

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