When To Hire A Lawyer For Pregnancy Discrimination

Pregnant employees are valued workers who deserve fair treatment and a safe workspace like everyone else. The Pregnancy Discrimination Act (PDA) ensured that it is part of a worker’s civil rights to have their needs protected when pregnant and that employers could no longer discriminate against them in certain ways. Unfortunately, not all employers have taken this to heart, and worst still, pregnancy discrimination is not always obvious or immediately identifiable.

If you suspect that you’ve been discriminated against on the basis of your pregnancy, it is just the beginning of an uphill struggle to understand how the law applies and how to obtain the best compensation for your damages. Even worse, pregnancy discrimination can sometimes overlap with gender and disability discrimination, creating additional factors for consideration.

Hiring a professional lawyer that is experienced in pregnancy discrimination cases to advocate for you in court and help you build up a secure case can ease a lot of stress during the legal process. More importantly, it also means that you can trust that you will be better positioned to put up your strongest battle for your damages. While going through a lawsuit is always stressful, it is particularly important for pregnant women and new mothers to have the capacity to focus on their physical and mental health. Contacting a lawyer to support you is the first step to easing the process. However, it can be hard to know when to contact a lawyer. We’ve listed out some common cases in which a pregnancy discrimination lawyer would be able to assist.

Discriminatory Hiring Processes

Under the Pregnancy Discrimination Act, it was ruled that employers cannot reject a capable candidate solely due to pregnancy-related concerns, pregnancy, or any inherent bias by employers against pregnant women. This can also manifest in pregnant individuals being offered a different role than they applied for due to pregnancy-related biases. If you believe that you are fully qualified and deserving of a certain role and have been unfairly judged due to your pregnancy, you should consider reaching out to a pregnancy discrimination lawyer.

Refusal to Make Accommodations

One of the benefits that pregnant workers are entitled to is the addition of reasonable accommodations to ensure their safety and comfort. This can range from shift changes and modifying job responsibilities to having a chair at their workspace or additional breaks. This also carries over till after the pregnancy, such as creating opportunities for a new mother to express milk during working hours. If your employer refuses to accommodate reasonable requests, this would be adequate grounds to seek out a pregnancy discrimination lawyer.

Revoking or Altering Health Insurance

If your employer offers health insurance benefits, these must be able to cover the costs of your pregnancy and any pregnancy-related medical needs. This means employers are required to reimburse for any treatments related to pregnancy in the same way that they approach reimbursements for other medical conditions. If you believe that your employer has deprived you of justifiable pregnancy-related healthcare reimbursements or they are attempting to impose additional or higher premiums for your insurance, it is time to consider engaging a pregnancy discrimination lawyer.