Pregnancy Discrimination in the Connecticut Workplace

Employees in Connecticut are protected by federal and state laws from being subjected to adverse treatment due to pregnancy. These laws also require employers to provide reasonable accommodations to employees who are pregnant or who recently gave birth.

Federal laws protecting pregnant and post-partum workers include the Pregnancy Discrimination Act (PDA), the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). These laws are reinforced and supplemented by the Connecticut Fair Employment Practices Act (CFEPA). Together, they prohibit employers from doing the following:

• Terminating employment because of pregnancy, childbirth or related conditions
• Denying reasonable leaves of absence for disability due to pregnancy (e.g., doctor-prescribed bed rest for a month after giving birth)
• Denying disability or leave benefits accrued under plans maintained by the employer
• Failing to reinstate an employee to her original job or equivalent position when she returns to work
• Limiting, segregating or classifying an employee in a way that would deprive her of employment opportunities due to her pregnancy
• Discriminating against an employee or job applicant who is pregnant

These laws also address the types of accommodations employers must make to enable a pregnant employee to work comfortably. Connecticut law requires these reasonable accommodations:

• Being permitted to sit while working
• More frequent or longer breaks
• Assistance with manual labor
• Job restructuring
• Light-duty assignments
• Modified work schedules
• Temporary transfers to less strenuous or less hazardous work
• Time off to recover from childbirth as prescribed by a doctor
• Break time and appropriate facilities (not a bathroom) for expressing milk

All employers with three or more employees are required to comply with Connecticut anti-discrimination and reasonable accommodation laws. Employers who retaliate against an employee for requesting a reasonable accommodation face potential sanctions.

An employer can, however, refuse to make an accommodation that would cause undue hardship. That means the employer needs to show that the accommodation would require significant difficulty or expense under the circumstances. The court will look at various factors when evaluating an undue hardship claim, including the size of the employer, its financial resources and the cost of the accommodation. An experienced employment law attorney can thoroughly evaluate whether a failure to accommodate was appropriate under the specific circumstances.

At Gesmonde, Pietrosimone & Sgrignari, L.L.C., we have successfully handled numerous pregnancy discrimination and failure-to-accommodate claims involving companies of varying sizes. If you believe you were a victim of pregnancy discrimination at work, call 203-745-0942 or contact us online to schedule a consultation with an employment law attorney in Hamden or East Haven.