Latest news with #PregnancyDiscriminationAct
Time Business News
29-05-2025
- Health
- Time Business News
Understanding Pregnancy Discrimination and Your Rights in New Jersey
Welcoming a child into the world should be a joyful and exciting time—not one overshadowed by fear of losing your job or being treated unfairly at work. Unfortunately, many women in New Jersey still face discrimination in the workplace due to pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions. At NJ Employment Lawyers, LLC, we advocate for the rights of working mothers and expectant employees. If your employer has denied accommodations, treated you differently, or retaliated against you because of your pregnancy, you may have a legal claim for pregnancy discrimination. Pregnancy discrimination is a form of unlawful employment discrimination that occurs when an employee or job applicant is treated unfavorably due to pregnancy, childbirth, or a related medical condition. It can take many forms, including: Refusing to hire or promote a pregnant person Reducing work hours or responsibilities after learning of a pregnancy Forcing an employee to take leave even though they are able and willing to work Failing to provide reasonable accommodations, such as modified tasks or schedules Firing or disciplining someone for taking maternity or family leave Such conduct is prohibited under both the federal Pregnancy Discrimination Act (PDA) and the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination (NJLAD). In New Jersey, employers are required to provide reasonable accommodations for pregnant employees, including changes to job duties or work schedules when medically advised. These accommodations might include: Allowing more frequent breaks Light-duty assignments Temporary transfers to less hazardous roles Time off to recover from childbirth Employers may not retaliate against an employee for requesting accommodations. Denying these requests without justification may constitute discrimination. Employees in New Jersey may qualify for job-protected leave under multiple statutes, including: Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) – Up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave for childbirth and bonding with a new child. – Up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave for childbirth and bonding with a new child. New Jersey Family Leave Act (NJFLA) – Similar protections for bonding leave, often usable consecutively with FMLA. – Similar protections for bonding leave, often usable consecutively with FMLA. New Jersey Temporary Disability Benefits – Provides partial wage replacement during pregnancy and recovery. – Provides partial wage replacement during pregnancy and recovery. New Jersey Family Leave Insurance (FLI) – Pays a portion of wages while bonding with a newborn or caring for a family member. If your employer discourages, penalizes, or terminates you for using these leave entitlements, that may be grounds for legal action. Wondering if you've experienced pregnancy discrimination? Some red flags include: A sudden change in your performance reviews after announcing your pregnancy Exclusion from meetings, training, or advancement opportunities Being told your pregnancy will 'interfere' with your duties Discipline or job loss shortly after taking maternity leave Each of these may be more than just poor treatment—they could be legal violations under state and federal law. We understand how emotionally and financially stressful pregnancy discrimination can be. Our attorneys at NJ Employment Lawyers, LLC will take the time to understand your experience, gather evidence, and fight for the compensation and accountability you deserve. We've successfully handled cases involving layoffs during maternity leave, denied accommodations, and retaliation for using family leave. Whether through settlement negotiations or courtroom litigation, we work tirelessly to protect your rights and restore your peace of mind. If you're experiencing pregnancy discrimination in New Jersey, you don't have to face it alone. Reach out to our team today to take the first step toward justice. Address:101 Eisenhower Pkwy #300 Roseland, NJ 07068 Phone: (973) 358-7027 About Us: NJ Employment Lawyers, LLC represents employees across New Jersey in pregnancy discrimination, wrongful termination, retaliation, and other employment law matters. We are proud to defend the rights of working parents every day. TIME BUSINESS NEWS
Yahoo
07-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Will Trump Usher in a New Wave of Pregnancy Discrimination?
If you are an expecting parent or have just welcomed a child into the world, the Trump administration is a parade of horribles. You are facing a political climate that may leave you and your child at risk for severe health problems, with childhood vaccines under threat and federal funding for public health getting slashed to the bone. Those same draconian cuts will make it harder for you to support your family should financial troubles arise, forcing you to look toward government assistance. Those financial troubles are now likelier than ever, with the administration's tariffs stoking recessionary pressures and driving up the costs of goods you need to purchase every day. But here's an undersung threat to your livelihood: Political leaders and government officials may also make it harder for many pregnant and postpartum workers to keep their jobs and hold their employers accountable for discrimination. Advocates for labor and civil rights protections want pregnant people to know that despite the Trump administration's attacks on celebrating any form of diversity in or outside of the workplace, protections for pregnant and postpartum people at work still exist. They come in the form of the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, or PWFA—a fairly fresh law that went into effect in 2023 that focuses on ensuring pregnant and postpartum workers receive workplace accommodations without being punished by their employers—and a law that's been in place since the 1970s, the Pregnancy Discrimination Act, or PDA, that prohibits discrimination on the basis of pregnancy. The PWFA addresses gaps in protections for pregnant workers that the PDA and Americans with Disabilities Act can't always cover. 'A lot of things [that fall] under the Pregnancy Discrimination Act might look like a person's boss firing them because they are pregnant or they don't want the optics of a pregnant worker working the front desk versus a person who comes to them and says I need a stool to sit at that front desk and it then becomes a violation of the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act if they're denied that stool,' said Katie Sandson, senior counsel on education and workplace justice at the National Women's Law Center. Although many pregnant and postpartum workers still have the law on their side, there are always questions of how the law will be enforced, whether employers will take their chances flouting the law—or are even aware of it. But the current administration's attacks on civil rights issues add another layer of worry and uncertainty about whether workers will have a fair chance of being heard. After Trump fired two of its commissioners, there is now a lack of a quorum in the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the agency responsible for enforcing nondiscrimination protections for pregnant workers and ensuring that employers provide accommodations for these expecting or newly-minted parents. That doesn't stop discrimination cases from moving forward. However, it does stop the EEOC from issuing formal guidance and rulemakings. As Timothy Noah noted in a February piece for The New Republic, some of Trump's eagerness to throw a sledgehammer to the federal government may hurt his administration's own agenda to roll back Biden-era regulations. The acting chair of the EEOC, Andrea Lucas, has stated that the EEOC plans to 'reconsider' parts of the final EEOC regulations for the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act once quorum is re-established. This may mean that Lucas will try to separate accommodations for patients who have had abortions or receive fertility treatments or are breastfeeding longer than she thinks necessary—see her explanation of why she voted against the final rule a year ago—from other kinds of pregnancy-related accommodations. This is a move that legal experts and advocates for pregnant people's rights say will only serve to confuse the workers the law is intended to protect and draw an ideological line somewhere that doesn't make sense for the reality of pregnancy or the purposes of the law. The New Republic spoke to two women who have children between five months and 18 months of age about their experiences seeking accommodations at work as breastfeeding moms. They said they weren't aware of the PWFA when they first started thinking about how to advocate for their right to breastfeed at work. They eventually found information at the Center for WorkLife Law at the University of California Hastings College of the Law in San Francisco, a group that describes itself as focused on strengthening legal rights for parents and other caregivers. Both women, located in Ohio, said their employers did not seem knowledgeable on the law when they invoked it at work. One of the women—Melissa, a police officer—said it was a 'huge relief' when she saw that the law protected her ability to breastfeed at work and seek accommodations to do so. (The New Republic has granted her the use of a pseudonym to guard against workplace retaliation.) She said she wanted to provide breastmilk for her now five-month old baby as she did for her first child but was worried she wouldn't be granted the ability to do the kind of paperwork job she needed to pump regularly and produce enough milk. 'It was literally a godsend that I was able to talk with somebody that was fully understanding what I was saying and trying to help me not get so much pushback on my job,' she said. She said she would love to pump for two years if she could. However, it's unclear whether Lucas, as acting chair of the EEOC, would support that length of accommodation under her plans for the PWFA regulations once a quorum returns to the agency. When Lucas complained that 'there is almost no bounds on what 'condition' any female employee or applicant could attempt to point to,' in her 2024 statement on the PWFA, she asks if these conditions include 'The dehydration and corresponding need for additional water breaks experienced by a mom who still is breast-feeding and pumping for her three-year old.' Sharita Gruberg, vice president for economic justice at the National Partnership for Women & Families, said attempts to draw certain lines for different kinds of experiences pregnant and postpartum workers have doesn't make sense for what the law is trying to achieve. 'The reality of a worker's experience with pregnancy doesn't start at a certain date and end at a certain date. That's not the reality and so lawmakers were very careful to craft a law that recognized these realities,' she said. 'The goal is that nobody should lose their job because of discrimination, because they're pregnant. And if that's your goal, you need to make sure that the protections reflect the full range of experiences that a pregnant worker is having where they could face discriminatory treatment.' Conservatives are pushing back on the rights of pregnant workers, including litigation targeting the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, as they also work to undermine reproductive healthcare more broadly. States with abortion bans have put pregnant people in the position to carry non-viable pregnancies to term. Women with ectopic pregnancies have had to watch their health worsen as they begged doctors to provide emergency care. The 16 states with the most restrictive abortion laws as of December 2024 also had weak fair pay laws and no state paid family and medical leave laws, according to a National Partnership for Women & Families report. Not only are many people who can get pregnant navigating a healthcare environment that is making it more difficult for doctors to provide care, but they're being pushed into increasingly harsh economic circumstances, Gruberg said. 'These are folks who are juggling the impossible—the increasing cost of necessities and precarious economic situations, needing to keep these jobs as costs skyrocket, and also making sure that they can do what they have to do to be safe and healthy,' she said. 'We have seen time and again just the relief from these folks knowing that they're protected and it's one less thing that they have to worry about. It's one less threat to their economic security and well-being as they are walking this tightrope that we force women in this country to walk on.' Pregnant and postpartum workers have long experienced what is known as 'the motherhood penalty,' where their careers are often derailed by having children. One 2017 study found that the earnings gap between a father and a mother doubled between the two years before their child's birth and the year after the birth. The financial challenges many parents already face at this crucial time in the development of their families could only be magnified by chaos caused by Trump's sweeping tariffs and the possibility of major changes from Republicans to SNAP and Medicaid. There is also some risk that workers could end up getting confused about their rights under the PWFA and PDA long before the return of that quorum because they may expect the current EEOC not to enforce the law—particularly the heavily litigated PWFA and its regulations—in the face of Trump administration attacks on reproductive rights, its hostility to basic civil rights issues, and its disrespect of the law. The PWFA is also a fairly new law, which means that many pregnant and postpartum workers may not even know it exists. Advocates at places such as the National Women's Law Center, National Partnership for Women & Families, and A Better Balance have been working to spread awareness of the law and how it works. But many are concerned that the new administration could undermine some of those efforts. If the EEOC loses funding, it's less effective for workers who want to make real use of the laws protecting them against workplace discrimination. 'We know this administration is planning on cutting the EEOC down even further and those cuts equal workers' rights being whittled away,' Gruberg said. Elizabeth Gedmark, a vice president at A Better Balance, said further federal funding cuts would be 'devastating' for the EEOC and enforcement of civil rights laws to 'ensure that employers are not emboldened to think they won't be held accountable.' Sandson said that it's too early to tell whether there will be as much litigation from the EEOC affecting pregnant and postpartum workers, but noted Lucas' history on stances that were critical of the agency's PWFA rule. Looking at the previous Trump administration's track record, it's clear that the EEOC deprioritized some civil rights enforcement, including some age-discrimination cases, and reversed collection of employee pay to better enforce equal pay laws. In March, the EEOC dismissed six of its cases that defended trans workers alleging gender identity discrimination. 'Generally, we know that in the first Trump administration, there was just a general impact on the EEOC's litigation and enforcement efforts and the scale and we saw less litigation generally under that administration,' she said. This doesn't mean that pregnant and postpartum workers shouldn't pursue their rights under laws protecting them from discrimination and a lack of accommodations at work. Workers are still advocating for themselves with the help of their unions and legal helplines. Beth, an Ohio teacher whose child is 18 months old, told The New Republic she has been denied accommodations and been accused of insubordination for pumping at work, for which she was put on leave. (As above, The New Republic is using a pseudonym to forestall any further work-related retaliation.) She hasn't ruled out the possibility of filing an EEOC charge and hopes that the lack of quorum will delay changes at the EEOC that she worries could hurt pregnant workers. 'I feel like the timeliness of my circumstance might be beneficial for me if the changes in the EEOC take a while to be implemented. I might manage to get my way back into my job or reach some kind of settlement with my district for these violations,' she said. Legal experts say pregnant and postpartum workers still have a good chance of winning legal fights in this climate. 'In attacking our civil rights broadly, the Trump administration is increasing the risk that employers will ignore all forms of civil rights laws, but I think it would be foolish to do so,' said Liz Morris, co-director of the Center for WorkLife Law. 'The Pregnant Workers Fairness Act is still the law … In almost all cases, the law is enough to help a person to get what they want by working with their employer, but of course weakening civil rights agencies does make it harder to seek justice in that very small number of cases where the employer continues to resist despite the law.'
Associated Press
18-03-2025
- Business
- Associated Press
LA's Akopyan Law Firm, A.P.C. Protects Manufacturing Workers Facing Pregnancy Discrimination in Southern California
Trusted employment law firm in Los Angeles fights for the rights of pregnant workers across Southern California. LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES, March 18, 2025 / / -- Akopyan Law Firm, A.P.C., a prominent Southern California employment law firm, fights for manufacturing workers experiencing pregnancy discrimination across Los Angeles, Kern, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, and Ventura counties. With a strong track record of success, the firm ensures that employees receive the legal support they need to combat discrimination and seek justice. Pregnancy discrimination remains a significant issue across industries, including manufacturing, where physical demands and workplace policies can sometimes lead to unfair treatment of pregnant employees. California's Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) and the Pregnancy Discrimination Act (PDA) make it illegal for employers to discriminate based on pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions. However, many workers still face wrongful termination, reduced work hours, denied promotions, and lack of reasonable accommodations due to pregnancy. Akopyan Law Firm, A.P.C. provides fearless representation to employees who experience pregnancy discrimination, helping them understand their rights and take legal action when necessary. 'Too often, pregnant employees, especially those in physically demanding jobs, find themselves unfairly treated or even pushed out of the workforce. We are committed to holding employers accountable and ensuring that every worker receives the protections they deserve under the law,' said Mr. Michael Akopyan, spokesperson for Akopyan Law Firm, A.P.C. The Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) provides robust protection for pregnant employees in California. Under this law, employers with five or more employees must provide reasonable accommodations for pregnancy-related conditions and cannot discriminate based on pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions. Reasonable accommodations may include temporary transfers to less strenuous positions, more frequent breaks, modified work schedules, and providing appropriate equipment or seating arrangements. Manufacturing environments often present particular challenges regarding these accommodations. 'When a manufacturing employee experiences discrimination because of pregnancy, the impacts can be devastating both financially and emotionally,' adds Mr. Akopyan. 'We offer complimentary case evaluations to help folks determine if they have a case. Our goal is to ensure every worker's rights are protected during this important life event.' The firm has established a strong reputation for successfully representing employment discrimination cases. One client shared: 'I called this week to seek some legal advice, the firm really took the time to listen to me and gave me some very useful and good advice. Thank you for your time.' Another client emphasized the personal attention received: 'Michael is a very good attorney pays attention to his clients listen to his clients listens to what they're saying what they're going through really takes an interest on all his clients he is an awesome attorney I would recommend it to everybody and anybody that needs a GREAT attorney.' The Akopyan Law Firm's team brings substantial experience to pregnancy discrimination cases. 'The Akopyan Law firm is spectacular! They are extremely professional, and if you want your case fought with vigor you must consult Ani and Michael Akopyan. Just look at their track record of wins for their clients and their many years of experience. The Akopyan Law firm is always my firm of choice, and I am confident in their skills. I would recommend them to friends and family alike,' shared another satisfied client. For manufacturing workers experiencing pregnancy discrimination, understanding the legal process is crucial. Under California law, employees typically must obtain a right to sue before pursuing a lawsuit. Akopyan Law Firm guides clients through this process, handling documentation, evidence gathering, and representation throughout negotiations or litigation. Manufacturing employees who believe they have experienced pregnancy discrimination are can contact Akopyan Law Firm for a no-cost case evaluation by calling (818) 509-9975 or visiting to learn more about their rights and potential legal options. About Akopyan Law Firm, A.P.C. The Akopyan Law Firm, A.P.C. ( is committed to restoring the balance of power against the government, large corporations, and insurance companies alike whenever they seek to deprive people of their rights. The Akopyan Law Firm, A.P.C., is dedicated to defending its clients against oppression and can stand up for them in their time of need. Contact Details: Michael Akopyan Ani M. Akopyan Los Angeles Office: 15821 Ventura Blvd. Suite 645 Encino, California 91436 Phone: (818) 509-9975 Bakersfield Office: 4900 California Avenue, Ste. 210-B Bakersfield, California 93309 Phone: (661) 874-4118 Orange Office: 1100 West Town and Country Road Suite 1250, Orange, California 92868 Phone: (657) 224-4422 Riverside Office: 11801 Pierce Street Suite 200, Riverside, California 92505 Phone: (951) 394-7421 San Bernardino Office: 473 E Carnegie Drive, Suite 200 San Bernardino, California 92408 Phone: (909) 966-5204 Ventura Office: 300 Esplanade Drive, Ste. 900 Oxnard, California 93036 Phone: (805) 504-1205 Note to Editors: • For more information or to schedule an interview with Michael Akopyan, please contact the firm at +1 (818) 509-9975. The attorneys at Akopyan Law Firm, A.P.C., are available to provide an expert commentary on employment law matters. • The firm has been recognized for its outstanding legal work, with attorneys Ani M. Akopyan and Michael Akopyan being named to the Southern California Super Lawyers List five times in a row - in 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, and 2024. • Akopyan Law Firm, A.P.C. has offices in Los Angeles, Bakersfield, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, and Ventura in California. End of Press Release. Michael Akopyan Akopyan Law Firm, A.P.C. +1 818-509-9975 X LinkedIn Legal Disclaimer:
New York Times
22-02-2025
- Health
- New York Times
She Got a Baby, but Lost a Bonus
Maternity-Leave Moola It's unfair, in my opinion, but in this case my opinion carries little weight. This is a legal question, and a very interesting — albeit complicated — one. I spoke to Inimai Chettiar, president of A Better Balance, a nonprofit legal advocacy organization, to get her take. Ms. Chettiar says that if there's a prorated bonus and it's clearly based on performance, then what your wife and her colleague experienced was legal. But what does 'performance' mean? Does going on medical or maternity leave mean a person has demonstrated a lesser performance than, say, someone who didn't? The additional wrinkle here is that you say in general everyone gets the same bonus, so it's unclear that it is in fact a performance-based bonus. This is one of those gray-area examples where it comes down to interpretation of the law and the individual circumstance, and whether your wife is being treated the same as other people who took leave. For example, if workers who took leave for something other than disability or medical reasons did NOT have their bonuses prorated, Ms. Chettiar says, that would clearly be discrimination under the Pregnancy Discrimination Act and Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, which make it illegal to retaliate against workers for being pregnant or because of pregnancy-related needs. In this case, however, it seems that your wife is being treated the same as her nonpregnant colleague. Marylou Fabbo, an employment lawyer in Massachusetts, your home state, said it was important to know that there's also the Family and Medical Leave Act, a federal statute that entitles employees to take unpaid leave for specific medical or family-related reasons, which include a birth, a relative with health issues that require employee care or, as the website of Department of Labor says, 'a serious health condition that makes the employee unable to perform the essential functions of his or her job.' Massachusetts has a fairly new paid-leave law that is similar to that federal law, Ms. Fabbo added. In this circumstance, she said, while the prorated bonus didn't sound strictly discriminatory, it didn't sound particularly fair. She suggested that it would probably in your wife's best interest to consult an employment lawyer just to be sure. A statute like the Family and Medical Leave Act would probably require an employer 'to pay the full amount, depending on the laws that are applicable to the particular employee,' Ms. Fabbo said. And if you're worried that the legal fees would exceed the bonus amount, she pointed out that many employment statutes, including those related to discrimination or failure to pay wages, required the employer to pay the employee's legal fees if the employee won the case. You may want to start by contacting the Massachusetts attorney general's office, Ms. Fabbo added, and go from there. Good luck. Why Is the Apple Polisher Getting Ahead? OK, you have two questions. One: whether there's anything more that you can do to communicate your concerns about your colleague E. Two: whether there's a way to contain your frustration about her continued enabling. My response to Question 1 is: No. I don't think there is. You've made attempts to broach the subject, and your frustrations appear to have been acknowledged by your boss, at least to a certain degree. But your boss doesn't want to really hear them or doesn't want to act on them, or both, for reasons that are unclear and, in the end, unimportant. The situation is what it is, no more, no less. Bringing it up again will probably just frustrate you more. Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic, a professor of business psychology at University College London and the author of the book 'Why Do So Many Incompetent Men Become Leaders?,' pointed out, delicately, that just because you think something is unfair doesn't necessarily mean it is. Perhaps, he said, E is great with managing (or sucking) up while at the same time offering your boss something actually useful or valuable. You're not necessarily going to know. If the goal of talking to your boss is to simply vent, this won't go very well. The best way to communicate your ongoing concerns is not to communicate them as complaints. You don't want to walk out of a conversation with your boss having compromised your reputation with your manager; you want to have improved it, Mr. Chamorro-Premuzic said. As for the question of having to pick up the slack for E, he suggested having a conversation with your boss that's less about E and more about the team as a whole. (One risk is that your boss will perceive that you're criticizing him or her for being unfair and inequitable.) 'You don't want to look like a high school snitch,' Mr. Chamorro-Premuzic said. 'Maybe 10 or 20 percent of it should sound like a complaint, and 80 percent of it should sound like something that shows maturity and engagement and a deliberate attempt to improve the team performance.' He suggested leading with questions like 'Is there something that can be done to improve the team dynamics?'' to reframe the conversation as a positive one. There is, however, something you can do to directly address your specific situation, which is to say your frustration. Karen Dillon, a former editor of The Harvard Business Review and the author of 'HBR Guide to Office Politics,' said she, too, once spent way too much time complaining about underperforming colleagues and talking about unfair favoritism. Now, she said, she has concluded that this was largely a waste of her time. She, not the colleague getting the special treatment, ended up the loser. 'As hard as it is, I think the advice I'd give people is focus on shining in their right,' Ms. Dillon said. Feeling resentment toward someone else will start to affect your performance, if it hasn't already. 'You have to decide it cannot affect how you do your job, because it's really destructive to you and you can be seen as the complainer or the critic or the downer person by if you're constantly talking to other colleagues about it or to your manager,' she said. 'When I let go of that, I think I just became a better employee myself.' Listen, I know you want your boss to take direct action — but keep in mind that you're not seeing the entire picture. Your boss may not feel empowered to further address the problem with E because E, as you say, is adept at managing up, meaning that there may be people your boss isn't willing to go 'against.' Think of it this way: Your boss also has to manage up, and if E has strong allies farther up the food chain, I'm afraid to say there's no real advantage for your boss to make waves by making E an issue. It's also hard to address favoritism when its origins come from elsewhere. Your boss may be an enabler, but she's definitely not the impetus. Your former boss is. Your current boss may also be unwilling to take action because he or she is in some sort of denial. As a manager who has occasionally overseen subpar employees, I know that it can feel easier to put one's head halfway in the sand and take on the employee's work myself. I'm not proud of that, but there it is. As Mr. Chamorro-Premuzic puts it, 'Most managers, like most humans, prefer to avoid complicated issues.' Which brings me to this: Your boss knows about E's failings and just doesn't care. It's a possibility, Mr. Chamorro-Premuzic said. It may even be a probability. And raising the issue with your boss 'is not a battle that you can easily win,' he said, not to mention politically unsavvy in an office where playing the game clearly matters. 'You might not like the rules of the game, but you cannot change them,' he said. You can, maybe, hope for some self-reflection at some point from your boss. Ms. Dillon said managers reading this column might be well served by asking themselves: "Are they creating two different sets of standards for people who report to them?' If so, she said, 'you will not be seen as a great leader by your peers if you're not seen as managing your full team effectively.'
