Pregnancy Discrimination Act Case Study

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Recommended: Importance of pregnancy discrimination law

The federal policy issue that I choose to research and write about is The Pregnancy Discrimination Act. The Pregnancy Discrimination Act, or PDA for short, is an amendment to Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. In Title VII of the Civil Rights Act it states that “[…] and women affected by pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions shall be treated the same for all employment-¬related purposes” (Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964). The PDA was enacted in the year 1978 and it prohibits workplace discrimination on the basis of pregnancy. The Act was developed as a result of the 1976 Supreme Court decision General Elec. Co. v. Gilbert (PDA-Historical Perspective). The employer offered its employees a disability benefit …show more content…

Many cases are being brought to the Supreme Court because many companies and employers are not cooperating with the Pregnancy Discrimination Act. Just recently a young women working with UPS was forced into unpaid time off because she was pregnant and was told by her doctor she could not lift more than 20 pounds. She felt that she had been unfairly treated because UPS made accommodations for other workers with disabilities but didn’t offer to make accommodations for her. I think that even though the Pregnancy Discrimination Act is there, many companies and employers are not following it. It is not fair for women who become pregnant to be treated any differently than another worker who has a temporary disability. I think that congress should strengthen this act so that women are not forced to choose between their job and the health of their pregnancy and baby. I think that companies and employers who are not following the rules of this act should be punished in some way. One way could be that if they are not obeying this act, they could be fined. It would make them more likely to follow through and follow the Pregnancy Discrimination Act. With more and more women in the work force, it is obvious at some point a majority of these women will be

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