Los Angeles Pregnancy Discrimination

Los Angeles is the second largest city in the country with a population of 3,898,747 as of 2020. Its population is spread over 502.7 square miles. The birth rate in Los Angeles County in 2019 was 50.4 per 1,000 women ages 15-44. Many of these women work in the many different industries that thrive in the city, including entertainment, international trade, entertainment, technology, fashion, aerospace, tourism, fashion, and petroleum. However, in the city, only 1 in every 4 children whose parents can afford day care get a spot. When you’re expecting a baby, you may feel great joy and anticipation, but you may also feel a great deal of economic pressure. It can be devastating not to be hired for a job for which you’re the most qualified or to lose your job simply because of your pregnancy. Unfortunately, many companies assume that women who are pregnant, or those who have just given birth, are not as productive as those who do not have families. If you are treated adversely because of your pregnancy or a related condition, you should call the experienced pregnancy discrimination Los Angeles attorneys of the Calderone Law Firm to see whether you have a viable claim for damages.

Workplace pregnancy discrimination is illegal under the federal Pregnancy Discrimination Act (PDA), which amended Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, and the California Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA). It occurs when an employer treats a job applicant or employee negatively in an employment decision based on her pregnancy, childbirth, or a related condition. Our attorneys may be able to pursue a pregnancy discrimination lawsuit if you were subject to failure to hire, firing, disparate pay, failure to promote, layoffs, failure to train, failure to provide fringe benefits, harassment, or any other negative term or condition of employment because of your pregnancy or childbirth.

Under the PDA, which applies to workplaces that have at least 15 employees, when a woman is temporarily unable to do her job because of a medical condition related to pregnancy or childbirth, she should be treated the same way as other temporarily disabled employees, such as through the provision of light duty or alternative assignments. In addition, when a pregnancy-related medical condition counts as a disability under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), the employer may need to provide a reasonable accommodation for the disability, so long as providing the accommodation doesn’t constitute an undue hardship.

Our Los Angeles attorneys find that the California Fair Employment Housing Act (FEHA) tends to provide broader, stronger protection to pregnant workers and those with other protected characteristics in Los Angeles workplaces than the Pregnancy Discrimination Act does. It protects employees at businesses so long as they have at least 5 employees. Discrimination may occur when an employer refuses to hire or promote employees because they are pregnant or pays them less or refuses to provide them training or terminates them due to their pregnancies.

Under FEHA, your employer must provide you with a reasonable accommodation if you aren’t able to do certain job tasks because of your pregnancy or a pregnancy-related medical condition, unless to do so presents an undue hardship. Furthermore, as an employee disabled by your pregnancy, childbirth, or a related condition, you’re entitled to a maximum of four months of disability leave for a pregnancy under the California Pregnancy Disability Leave Law. This is in addition to any leave to which you’re entitled under the California Family Rights Act (CFRA) or the New Parent Leave Act (NPLA). For instance, even if you are unable to walk due to pubic symphysis and therefore take 4 months of disability leave under PDL, you would also be able to take up to 12 workweeks of baby bonding leave under CFRA.

If you believe you were treated adversely in the workplace due to pregnancy, childbirth, or a pregnancy-related condition, you should call the Los Angeles pregnancy discrimination lawyers of the Calderone Law Firm. Vincent Calderone, the principal of our premiere Southern California firm has more than two decades of experience representing clients in court. Contact us online or call us at (424) 348-8290.