Pregnant and parenting workers have rights and when those rights are violated, they can file a suit against their employer. This happened recently when a police officer made a complaint about unfair discrimination. That complaint, filed with the Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities, has now resulted in a lawsuit against the town of Madison, Connecticut.
The woman says that she has been pregnant twice in her work as a town police officer. During the first pregnancy, she was assigned to desk duty while awaiting the birth of the baby. However, during her second pregnancy, she says that she was made to take Family and Medical Leave even though her doctor had recommended desk duty.
The suit is in regards to the second pregnancy, with the woman contending that she should have been given a desk job instead of being forced to go on leave.
Her affidavit in the case gives important details. It says that she told her boss, the police chief, very early that she was going to be expecting a second baby. She says that she was not informed at that time that she would be treated any differently than she was in her first pregnancy. Correspondingly, she believed that she would be on desk duty again.
However, the police chief said that desk duty was only for those with work-related injuries. As a result, the woman had to go on leave, knowing she would be unable to go back to active duty until she gave birth and completed maternity leave.
Unfortunately, there are many cases of discrimination against parenting and pregnant workers across the country each year. Workers may be told to take leave when they don’t want to or denied leave they want to take. An experienced attorney can help secure their rights.
Source: New Haven Register, “Madison police officer files discrimination complaint against town” Kate Ramunni, Dec. 25, 2014
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