SCOTUS Issues Ruling on Accommodation of Pregnant Employees

March 30, 2015

Published in the American Bar Association (ABA Section of Litigation)

The U.S. Supreme Court on March 25, 2015, decided Young v. United Parcel Service, Inc. (UPS), 575 U.S. ____ (2015). The issue in the case was whether, and in what circumstance, the Pregnancy Discrimination Act (PDA), 42 U.S.C. 2000e(k), requires an employer that provides work accommodations to non-pregnant employees with work limitations to also provide work accommodations to pregnant employees who are “similar in their ability or inability to work.” UPS offered a “light duty program” to workers who were injured on the job, were disabled under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), or had lost their Department of Transportation (DOT) certifications. UPS, however, did not provide any such accommodations to pregnant employees who were not medically disabled. Young challenged the policy, arguing that the PDA requires an employer to provide pregnant employees light duty work if it provides similar work to other employees in other circumstances.

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