Under the New York employment laws, it is unlawful to discriminate against a woman because she is pregnant which means that you cannot- the employer cannot fire her because she is pregnant, cannot- an employer cannot discriminate against a pregnant woman in terms of her employment benefits or in terms of her compensation which includes salary, commissions, and/or bonuses. The employer cannot disadvantage a woman because she is pregnant in those areas. An employer can also not demote a woman because she is pregnant and if I haven’t already said so, cannot fire a woman because she is pregnant.
The employer needs to accommodate, to give reasonable accommodations to a woman who is pregnant. So for example, if a pregnant woman needs time off from work for prenatal visits or for doctors’ appointments then her employer would have to give those reasonable accommodations. In addition, an employer under the New York employment laws needs to give a pregnant woman time off in order to give birth as well as for any medical conditions either prior to, during the birth, or immediately following the birth. And depending on the facts of each individual situation it could be argued that under the New York employment laws a woman could be entitled to as long as and up to a year off because of her pregnancy and/or pregnancy related medical conditions but that is a very case by case and fact specific inquiry.
In addition under the New York employment laws, an employer cannot place a pregnant woman on the quote-unquote “mommy track” and pigeon hole her into a job that doesn’t have the same employment opportunities as men. It would be so…. the unlawful pregnancy discrimination as well as perhaps sex or gender discrimination to put a pregnant woman or a woman arguably who could become pregnant at some future date quote-unquote onto the “mommy track” and limit her future job opportunities or promotional opportunities or compensation, salary, commission, and/or bonus opportunities.
In addition, under the New York employment laws it could also be a form of medical disability discrimination to disadvantage a woman in the workplace because she is pregnant. Pregnancy could also be a form of medical disability discrimination because especially under the New York State and city human rights laws any medically diagnosable impairment is considered a medical disability and pregnancy would fall under such a definition. Any medical conditions arising from a woman’s pregnancy could also arguably be a medical condition that would be protected under the various New York employment laws.
Call us today to discuss your employment situation at 1-800-LOST-JOB or 1-800-567-8562 with a New York pregnancy discrimination lawyer.
