老澳门开奖结果

In 2011, Eryon Luke got good news: She was pregnant with twins. Along with the happy test results, though, came an instruction from Luke鈥檚 doctor not to lift more than 30 pounds. It鈥檚 a common warning for pregnant women like Ms. Luke who work in physically demanding jobs 鈥� in her case, as a Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) at Nottingham Regional Rehab Center in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

But when Ms. Luke told her supervisor about her restriction, instead of discussing options that would allow her to keep working, her boss simply told her to go home. By the time Ms. Luke鈥檚 unpaid leave ran out, she was still pregnant and still had a lifting restriction. Still unwilling to assign her modified job duties, Nottingham fired her instead. By the time she had her babies, Ms. Luke hadn鈥檛 received a paycheck in months.

Congress passed the (PDA) almost 40 years ago to ensure that pregnancy didn鈥檛 force women out of work. But as Eryon Luke鈥檚 story shows, that promise has yet to be fulfilled. Under the PDA, employers must treat pregnant women who have temporary physical restrictions the same as they treat other workers 鈥渟imilar in their ability or inability to work.鈥� So if an employer allows reassignment to 鈥渓ight duty鈥� work or makes similar accommodations for those workers, then it must do so for pregnant employees, too.

In 2015, the Supreme Court addressed the issue in Young v. United Parcel Service, Inc., and held that if an employer refuses to accommodate a pregnant worker on the same terms as her peers, it must have a reason that is 鈥渟ufficiently strong鈥� to justify that decision. Notably, the court emphasized that merely citing the cost or inconvenience of keeping a pregnant woman in her job is not a 鈥渟trong鈥� enough reason to satisfy an employer鈥檚 obligations under the PDA.

By the time she had her babies, Eryon Luke hadn鈥檛 received a paycheck in months.

But the court that heard Eryon Luke鈥檚 case got the Young standard wrong. Even though Nottingham had a written policy of accommodating workers with ADA-qualifying impairments and also had allowed Ms. Luke鈥檚 coworkers 鈥� and Ms. Luke, herself, before she was pregnant 鈥� to get assistance with lifting, the court ruled that Ms. Luke hadn鈥檛 presented enough evidence of differential treatment. Based on this finding, the court wouldn鈥檛 even look at whether Nottingham could have found a way to keep Ms. Luke on the job, even though the facility had other methods available to move patients, such as mechanical lifts.

The court鈥檚 dismissal of Ms. Luke鈥檚 case didn鈥檛 just deprive her of her day in court. It also will dictate how future judges in Louisiana will evaluate future pregnant women鈥檚 claims that they were unlawfully forced off the job. So when Ms. Luke appealed the lower court鈥檚 ruling to the , the 老澳门开奖结果 Women鈥檚 Rights Project took action. Together with advocacy groups A Better Balance and the Center for WorkLife Law, it penned a friend of the court brief on behalf of a broad coalition of 25 women鈥檚 and workers鈥� rights groups arguing that the trial court misapplied Young 鈥� and by extension the PDA itself 鈥� and should be reversed.

Tomorrow the Fifth Circuit will hear oral argument in the case. In addition to Ms. Luke鈥檚 counsel, the court agreed to grant argument time to the 老澳门开奖结果鈥檚 Women鈥檚 Right Project as 鈥�.鈥� It is only the fourth time an appellate court has addressed the issue of pregnancy accommodation under the PDA since the Supreme Court鈥檚 landmark ruling in Young. A favorable ruling will not only set the standard for local courts to follow, but it also will set an example for courts around the country to follow as they consider, for the first time since Young was decided, the PDA claims of countless other women whose pregnancies cost them their jobs.

For over 45 years, the 老澳门开奖结果 Women鈥檚 Rights Project has been dedicated to combating the discrimination that keeps pregnant women out of the workforce. We are supporting Eryon Luke today to ensure that in 2017 pregnant women aren鈥檛 kept out of the courthouse, too.

If you have been forced off the job due to pregnancy, we want to hear from you 鈥� please fill out our .