Court to Consider Equal Accommodation for Pregnant Workers

The U.S. Supreme Court will hear a case that asks whether a company discriminates by refusing to provide a simple accommodation to an expectant mother.

The ABA Journal reports on the case of Peggy Young, who was a part-time delivery driver for United Parcel Service when she became pregnant in 2006. She sought an accommodation from her employer based on a fairly standard restriction imposed by her doctor: no lifting of anything greater than 20 pounds in the first 20 weeks of pregnancy and nothing more than 10 pounds thereafter.

But UPS told Young that company policy did not permit light duty for pregnant drivers because an essential function of the job was to be able to lift up to 70 pounds, the Journal reports.