Chicago — The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s Chicago District Office has filed a pair of lawsuits against separate employers for violations of the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act.
The commission charges that North American freight shipping company R&L Carriers’ Matteson, IL, location discriminated against a truck driver “when it forced her to take leave rather than let her continue to work (with restrictions) during her pregnancy.”
EEOC also alleges that Prairie Green at Fay’s Point, an assisted living facility in Blue Island, IL, fired an employee after she disclosed her pregnancy and requested a 20-pound lifting restriction.
“Accommodating the restriction would have allowed the employees to continue to work, but their employers refused,” EEOC states in a press release.
“Under the PWFA, employers must engage in an interactive process to determine what reasonable accommodations are available for employees with pregnancy-related limitations,” agency spokesperson Victor Chen said in the release.
“The law also specifically bars employers from forcing employees to take leave when the employer could have offered another reasonable accommodation that would allow them to keep working.
“Filing these cases on the same day underscores the wide range of jobs held by pregnant workers and highlights this relatively new federal law designed to protect them.”
The commission is seeking compensatory and punitive monetary damages from each employer, as well as injunctions to “prevent similar unlawful conduct in the future.”
