US Govt. says pregnancy discrimination claims increasing
Get RSS feed of these resultsAll components of this story
Equal employment commission seeking to improve enforcement against pregnancy discrimination
- Related stories: US Govt. says pregnancy discrimination claims increasing
Government Eases Path For Parents to Sue Employers [USA]
Author: Sue Shellenbarger, Wall Street Journal
Amid a record rise in job-bias complaints by mothers, federal regulators are taking a more aggressive stance in protecting parents from discrimination at work. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission issued guidelines yesterday on job bias against workers who juggle caregiving duties, particularly working parents. The 33-page document, with 18 examples of conduct the agency considers illegal, aims in part to help EEOC employees in its 53 offices keep potentially worthy cases from slipping through its enforcement net... "In the past, we saw women discriminated against at two points in their pregnancies," either when they disclosed it or as they neared childbirth, said Elizabeth Grossman, a regional EEOC attorney, at an April EEOC hearing. Now, women also are speaking up at "a third point -- after they have a child."... Based on lawsuits cited by the EEOC, here are examples of managers behaving badly:
• Decisions based on stereotypes...
• Decisions based on assumptions -- such as the notion that mothers won't relocate their families for a promotion...
• Discrimination against fathers based on a "mirror-image" stereotype -- such as the belief that fathers don't need parental leave...
An attorney who is demoted for missing work and deadlines because she can't find child care doesn't have a case, the EEOC says; she's being fairly penalized for failing to do her job. [refers to lawsuit against MEA-Elgin]
- Related stories: US Govt. says pregnancy discrimination claims increasing
Pregnancy discrimination is on the rise [USA]
Author: Eve Tahmincioglu, MSNBC [USA]
Despite the fact that we supposedly live in a society that is becoming more understanding, and corporate America tells us more supportive, of work-life balance, the number of pregnancy discrimination complaints across the country is actually on the rise... [Charge filings] filed with the EEOC [Equal Employment Opportunity Commission], state and local agencies jumped nearly 19 percent to a record 4,901 last year, from 3,977 in 1997.
- Related stories: US Govt. says pregnancy discrimination claims increasing
- Related in-depth areas: Alleged abuses Case examples