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Are you worried about being fired or laid off simply because you're pregnant? An amendment to Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, known as the Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1978 (PDA), makes it unlawful for an employer to discriminate on the basis of pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions.

Protections under the PDA

The PDA provides a number of protections to pregnant women, aimed at making sure that employers treat pregnant women the same as other applicants or employees with temporary disabilities or limitations.

Under the PDA, it's illegal for an employer to:

• Refuse to hire, to fire, or to subject an employee to more adverse terms of employment than others because she is pregnant or may become pregnant
• Treat pregnancy-related conditions differently from other disabling conditions
• Discriminate against pregnant women with respect to fringe benefits
• Require an employee to take mandatory maternity leave, or
• Discriminate against an employee because she is pregnant and unmarried

Employers must hold a job open for a pregnancy-related absence for the same amount of time as jobs which are held open for other employees on disability or sick leave.

Under the PDA, however, an employer doesn't have to treat a pregnant employee any better than a non-pregnant employee would be treated. For example, it's not unlawful to deny disability benefits to pregnant employees if other employees with temporary disabilities are also denied disability benefits. And an employer doesn't have to excuse tardiness due to morning sickness if the employer doesn't excuse tardiness for a different health-related reason.

The PDA doesn't cover breastfeeding, but some states have laws protecting a mother's rights to breastfeed at a job site.

Some states also grant additional rights to pregnant workers or job applicants. In particular, a few states have "temporary disability insurance" laws that pay partial wages during time off due to medical problems, including pregnancy.

Under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act ("HIPAA"), employer-provided health insurance must cover pregnancy-related conditions in the same way as non-pregnancy related medical conditions.

Related Medical Conditions

Title VII protects persons from employment discrimination on the basis of pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions. While ''pregnancy'' and ''childbirth'' are fairly straightforward concepts, the meaning of ''other related medical conditions'' has been the subject of lawsuits. Courts have held that:

• Infertility may be considered a related medical condition
• An employer may not take adverse action against an employee because that employee had or is contemplating having an abortion
• Having menstrual cramps is not a medical condition related to pregnancy and childbirth
• The fact that a physical condition begins during pregnancy does not necessarily make it a ''related medical condition''
• A man may assert discrimination on the basis of pregnancy if he is terminated because of his wife's pregnancy

Proving a PDA Violation

An employee or applicant seeking to prove a case of pregnancy discrimination must show that the employer knew of the pregnancy. You must also show that, because of the pregnancy, your employer took some adverse employment action against you or denied you some benefit afforded to other employees. You may also prevail by showing that the discrimination against you was part of a pattern or practice of discrimination against all pregnant employees or applicants by your employer.

You're not required to prove that your employer acted intentionally or with any ill will.

Documenting Your Case

If you think you are or will be discriminated against because of your pregnancy:

• Write everything down, including the date, time and place and everything that was said. Include names of participants and witnesses, and keep a copy of these notes at home.
• Continue to do your job, and start documenting how well you're performing
• Make copies of job performance reviews and other evidence of a job well done, and store them at home or some place other than your job site
• Contact your union representative to talk about the possibility of filing a grievance or some other complaint process
• Talk to your human resources department to file a complaint or learn about the company process for filing a complaint
• Call a local women's rights or civil rights group for help

It's also important to find out how other pregnant workers have been treated by your employer, as there is strength in numbers.

If you can't get a satisfactory result within your company, or you're not actually employed by the offending company (such as if you were a job applicant), consider filing a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC"). There are very short time limits on how long you can wait to file a charge against your employer, so it's important to act quickly when making an EEOC complaint.

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