Expecting a child is an experience that many residents in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area relish. They may have been trying for some time before getting pregnant, or they may have been successful right away. Whatever the case, many mothers-to-be need time away from work for pregnancy-related issues or after the baby is born, and the spouse or partner may also need time off to help care for the new baby. Unfortunately, not all employers are as accommodating to pregnant workers or their spouses and partners as they likely should be, and many employees face pregnancy discrimination.
In some cases, discrimination is not easy to pinpoint. An employer may be able to argue that other circumstances besides the pregnancy resulted in a worker being terminated, demoted, given less work or other similar actions.
However, there are certain instances in which actions are blatantly discriminatory, including the following:
- Forcing a pregnant employee to take time off work
- Denying a pregnant employee or her spouse or partner the ability to take time off for pregnancy-related issues
- Forbidding a new mother from pumping breast milk in a designated area in the workplace
- Not providing reasonable accommodations for pregnant employees or their spouses and partners
- Harassing a pregnant employee or her spouse or partner.
People who are pregnant want the experience to be joyful. If workers in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area face pregnancy discrimination, their experience could be made more stressful by the negative actions of an employer. If this type of discrimination occurs, workers may want to gain information on their legal options for addressing the illegal treatment they may have faced.
