Excerpt
GWEN IFILL (NewsHour): Today, the Supreme Court heard arguments in the case of Peggy Young, a former UPS driver who says the company discriminated against her when she was pregnant. UPS placed Young on unpaid leave for several months because she was unable to perform her required duties, they said.
Young’s lawyers say the company’s actions violated the Pregnancy Discrimination Act. Women’s rights groups and members of Congress rallied outside the Supreme Court this morning to support Young.
But there are at least two sides to the argument.
Joining us to describe what happened inside the court today, Marcia Coyle of “The National Law Journal,” Emily Martin, vice president and general counsel for the National Women’s Law Center, and Karen Harned, executive director of the National Federation of Independent Business’ Small Business Legal Center.
Marcia, I want to start with you and with the law. Let’s look at this 1979 law, ’8 law. I’m always getting that wrong. If I put on my glasses, I can see it.
(LAUGHTER)
MARCIA COYLE, The National Law Journal: OK.
GWEN IFILL: It says, “Discrimination on the basis of pregnancy is illegal sex discrimination, and pregnant women shall be treated the same for all employment-related purposes as other persons not so affected, but similar in their ability or inability to work.”
Sounds pretty straightforward and pretty simple.
MARCIA COYLE: Simple, until you get into the Supreme Court and start arguing what the language means.
Today, the arguments really focus primarily on that second clause, how to treat pregnant workers. UPS has argued and it argued today that it has basically a pregnancy-blind policy. It offers accommodations to workers whose injuries occur or conditions develop on the job, not off the job.
So it’s not singling out pregnant workers. They are being treated like all of UPS’ other workers who have injuries or conditions that develop off the job. And it looked at that second clause and said, that’s not a freestanding, independent claim to bring — to charge discrimination against UPS.
It is tied to the basic prohibition against pregnancy discrimination. Well, Ms. Young’s attorney says, OK, let’s look at the language of that clause again. It says nothing about on-the-job, off-the-job distinctions. It also doesn’t speak to the cause or the source of the limitation on the worker.
Instead it says, you’re to compare the pregnant worker limitation with non-pregnant workers who have similar limitations on their ability or inability to do the job. And also he claims that UPS doesn’t have a pregnancy-blind policy because it does offer accommodations to workers, for example, who lose their Department of Transportation certificate that allows them to drive. And also it accommodates workers with conditions that are recognized by the Americans with Disabilities Act.
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