Accommodation

EEOC Issues New Guidance on Religious Objections to COVID-19 Vaccine Mandates

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Author: Laura Friedel

On Monday, October 25, 2021, the EEOC released much-awaited guidance on how employers should handle employee requests to be exempted from vaccination requirements because of religious beliefs. The new guidance is in the new Section L of the EEOC’s Technical Assistance.  Here are some highlights:

  • Employees must tell their employer if they are requesting an exception to COVID-19 vaccination requirements because of a conflict between that requirement and their sincerely held religious beliefs, practices or observances.  However, they don’t have to use any “magic words” in making their request.
  • Employers should assume that a request for religious accommodation is based on sincerely held religious beliefs.  However, if the employer has an objective basis for questioning either the nature or the sincerity of a stated belief, they can make a limited factual inquiry and seek supporting information. 
  • The definition of “religion” under Title VII includes both traditional religious beliefs and non-traditional religious beliefs, but it does not include political, social or economic views or personal preferences.  Employees may be asked to explain the nature of their belief that requires the accommodation.
  • Even if an employee’s sincerely held religious belief prohibits them from being vaccinated, the employer can still refuse to provide an exception to a vaccine mandate if it would cause the employer an “undue hardship.”  While the EEOC notes that in many cases it is possible to accommodate employees’ requests for exceptions to a vaccine mandate (for instance, by allowing work-from-home or requiring the employee to take extra measures (such as frequent testing), it also acknowledges that an employer can’t be required to bear more than a “de minimis” cost in accommodating an employee’s religious belief – for instance, if it would impair workplace safety, diminish efficiency or cause coworkers to carry the employee’s share of potentially hazardous or burdensome work.  The key here is that it is a very fact-specific inquiry, so employers should analyze each request individually, rather than setting a broad rule.
  • Just because one employee is granted an exception from a COVID-19 vaccine mandate doesn’t mean that it needs to be granted to others.  Again, the key is the particular facts and circumstances, so employers should look at the employees’ duties, how many people they come into contact with, etc.
  • Even where an employer is required to provide an accommodation, it is not required to provide the particular accommodation requested by the employee.  So if there’s another accommodation available that would allow the employee to perform their duties and would not cause an undue hardship, it can be offered, even if it’s not the accommodation the employee requested.
  • Employers may revisit accommodations based on changed circumstances, but as a best practice, any changes should be discussed with the employee in advance so that alternate accommodations can be considered.

What is clear from the EEOC’s guidance is that requests for exceptions to vaccine requirements for religious reasons need to be considered on a case-by-case basis. It is also important to consider state and local requirements that may limit vaccine mandates.  As such, we recommend consulting with an employment attorney in responding to such requests.

Can Employers Require High Risk Employees to Stay Home? Latest EEOC Guidance on Interpreting the ADA During the Pandemic

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The CDC has identified a number of medical conditions that might place individuals at “higher risk for severe illness” if they get COVID-19. The EEOC has recently provided updated guidance on how employers should treat employees in this category. To summarize the EEOC guidance, while employees may request to stay home, and employers are required to consider whether that would be a reasonable accommodation, employers cannot require high risk employees to stay home unless they have requested to do so or their reporting to work would rise to the level of a “direct threat.”

What if an employer already knows an employee is at higher risk? Can the employer require the employee to stay home?

Generally, no. Even if the employer is concerned about the employee’s health, the employer cannot take any adverse action against the employee (such as requiring the employee to stay home) on the basis of being higher risk, unless the employee’s disability rises to the level of a “direct threat” to his or her health that cannot be eliminated or reduced by reasonable accommodation.

“Direct threat” is a high standard to meet.  It requires an individualized assessment based on a reasonable medical judgment about the employee’s disability – and cannot be based solely on the employee’s disability being listed on the CDC list. If the employee’s disability does pose a direct threat, the employer must attempt to provide a reasonable accommodation such as telework or reassignment before excluding the employee from the workplace.

Can employers ask employees if they have a disability that might put them at higher risk?

The EEOC has not provided clear guidance on this issue, so we currently are recommending against asking employees if they have a disability that might put them at higher risk.  However, it is would be permissible to inform employees generally that if they have a disability that would put them at higher risk, and they wish to request a reasonable accommodation (which could include staying home), that the employer would be happy to consider such requests.

In a previous guidance issued by the EEOC in response to flu pandemics, the agency cautioned against asking about medical conditions that might put employees at higher risk.  However, the EEOC did not close the door entirely on such inquiries.  The guidance stated that if a pandemic “becomes more severe or serious according to the assessment of local, state or federal public health officials, ADA-covered employers may have sufficient objective information from public health advisories to reasonably conclude that employees will face a direct threat if they contract pandemic influenza.” It’s possible that the current COVID-19 pandemic may fit the situation that the EEOC described, but the EEOC has not yet provided clarification.

In the absence of definitive guidance from the EEOC, there are significant risks involved in making disability-related inquiries, including the risk of claims after the pandemic based on the employer’s knowledge of an employee’s disability. Accordingly, we recommend employers avoid making these inquiries until the EEOC provides further guidance.

Employers may ask employees if they have symptoms of coronavirus or have tested positive.  Additionally, employers may invite employees to voluntarily disclose any underlying condition that make them vulnerable to the coronavirus, so that the employer may provide any necessary reasonable accommodations.

Do employers have to provide reasonable accommodations to employees who have a higher risk from COVID-19?

Potentially, yes, if the employee’s higher risk is due to a preexisting condition rising to the level of a disability and the accommodation does not cause an undue hardship. See our previous guidance on reasonable accommodations here.

Illinois Passes Workplace Transparency Act and Other Legislative Changes Intended to Fight Workplace Harassment and Discrimination

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In the latest of a series of major legislative development affecting Illinois employers, Governor Pritzker signed Public Law 101-0221 on August 9, 2019, which includes the new Workplace Transparency Act (the “WTA”) and also makes changes to the Illinois Human Rights Act and various other current laws. The WTA is an outgrowth of the #metoo movement and is intended to prevent harassment in the workplace and ensure incidents of harassment and discrimination are not kept buried from public disclosure, as allegedly happened for many years in the Harvey Weinstein situation. Most provisions of Public Law 101—0221 go into effect on January 1, 2020. The new legislation will impact what sorts of agreements can be put in place with employees, prospective employees, and former employees, how disputes relating to harassment and discrimination can be resolved, the training that must be conducted by employers, and what information about judgments and settlements must be disclosed to the government.

Restrictions on Agreements with Employees, Prospective Employees, and Former Employees

The WTA prohibits “[a]ny agreement, clause, covenant or waiver that is a unilateral condition of employment or continued employment” and that:

  • has the purpose or effect of “preventing an employee or prospective employee from making truthful statements or disclosures about alleged unlawful employment practices” or
  • “requires the employee or prospective employee to waive, arbitrate, or otherwise diminish any existing or future claim, right, or benefit related to an unlawful employment practice to which the employee or prospective employee would otherwise be entitled under any provision of State or federal law….”

The WTA clearly is targeting, in the first place, confidentiality and non-disparagement provisions that are imposed unilaterally by an employer and that purport to bar an employee from disclosing unlawful employment practices and, in the second place, mandatory arbitration agreements, jury waivers, and similar terms imposed unilaterally by employers that make it more difficult for employees to vindicate their rights.

The attempt to restrict the use of arbitration agreements by employers may run afoul of federal law which contains an expressed policy in support of such agreements as stated in the Federal Arbitration Act. This potential conflict between State and federal law likely will be sorted out in future litigation.

Certain Mutual Employment Agreements Qualify for Different Treatment

The WTA sets up two exceptions to the general prohibitions described above. First, an employer is permitted to enter into an agreement that would otherwise violate the WTA if the agreement “is a mutual condition of employment,” is in writing, is supported by “actual, knowing, and bargained-for consideration from both parties,” and does not prevent an employee or prospective employee from: (1) reporting good faith allegations of unlawful employment practices to appropriate federal, State, or local agencies enforcing discrimination laws, (2) reporting good faith allegations of criminal conduct to appropriate federal, State, or local officials, (3) participating in a proceeding enforcing discrimination laws, (4) making any truthful statements or disclosures required by law, regulation, or legal process, or (5) requesting or receiving confidential legal advice.

Settlement and Termination Agreements Also are Treated Differently

The second exception under the WTA involves “valid and enforceable settlement or termination” agreements that include promises of confidentiality related to alleged unlawful employment practices. To qualify for the exception, the following criteria must be met:

  1. “[C]onfidentiality is the documented preference of the employee, prospective employee, or former employee and is mutually beneficial to both parties”;
  2. The employer must provide notice, in writing, of the employee, prospective employee, or former employee’s right to have an attorney review the agreement;
  3. There must be valid, bargained for consideration “in exchange for the confidentiality”;
  4. There must not be a waiver of claims that accrue after the date of the agreement;
  5. The employee, prospective employee, or former employee must be given 21 days to review the agreement; and
  6. “[U]nless knowingly and voluntarily waived,” the employee, prospective employee, or former employee must be given 7 days to revoke the agreement.

It is worth noting that the WTA makes clear that employers can still require individuals to keep allegations of unlawful conduct confidential if they receive complaints or investigate them as part of their job or if they are a participant in an investigation.

New Training Requirements

Also part of Public Law 101-0221, a new provision has been added to the Illinois Human Rights Act that will require employers to provide annual sexual harassment prevention training to employees. The Illinois Department of Human Rights has been directed to produce a model training program, and employers will be able either to use that model program or one of their own that equals or exceeds the minimum standards. Beyond describing the subjects that must be part of the program, the legislation gives few details about how long the training must be, whether it must be participatory, and whether it must be in-person. One helpful part of the legislation is that employers who do not comply with the training requirement will be given a thirty-day period after being cited during which they can provide the training.

Expansion of IDHR Coverage

Besides the new training provision described above, Public Law 101-0221 also expands the Illinois Human Rights Act by adding protection based on perceived membership in a protected class, adding a new definition of “harassment,” providing protection from harassment for nonemployees (i.e., contractors and consultants) who provide services to an employer, and making clear that an employer’s “work environment” is not limited to the physical location to which an employee is assigned. The legislation also makes clear that an employer will not be liable for the harassment carried out by non-managers and non-supervisory personnel unless the employer becomes aware of the conduct and fails to take reasonable corrective measures. This mirrors the treatment under federal law for non-managers and non-supervisory personnel.

New Reporting Requirements

Beginning in July of 2020, employers who have experienced an adverse judgment involving sexual harassment or workplace discrimination in the prior calendar year will be required to make certain reports to the Illinois Department of Human Rights. The Department of Human Rights also will have expanded powers to request settlement information as part of an investigation of a charge. Information shared with the Department of Human Rights will not be subject to Illinois’ FOIA law.

Expansion of VESSA

Finally, Public Law 101-0221 also amended Illinois Victims’ Economic Security and Safety Act (VESSA). This statute protects victims of sexual and domestic violence and certain family and household members from discrimination and gives them certain leave and accommodation rights. With the changes recently enacted, VESSA now also protects victims of gender violence, which is defined as “(A) one or more acts of violence or aggression satisfying the elements of any criminal offense under the laws of this State that are committed, at least in part, on the basis of a person’s actual or perceived sex or gender, regardless of whether the acts resulted in criminal charges, prosecution, or conviction; (B) a physical intrusion or physical invasion of a sexual nature under coercive conditions satisfying the elements of any criminal offense under the laws of this State, regardless of whether the intrusion or invasion resulted in criminal charges, prosecution, or conviction; or (C) a threat of an act described in item (A) or (B) causing a realistic apprehension that the originator of the threat will commit the act.”

What Should Illinois Employers Do Now?

Faced with the above provisions, Illinois employers likely will want to take several steps.

First, because it will be difficult to show that an agreement is “mutual” for purposes of the WTA, employers will want to assume that most agreements signed by employees as a standard condition of their employment are going to be “unilateral.” For these agreements, the safest route will be to carve out an employee’s right to make truthful statements or disclosures about unlawful employment practices and to remove any provisions that might diminish an employee’s right to pursue employment-related claims.

Second, for certain agreements with high-level executives that are truly the product of bargaining and for settlement and termination agreements, to the extent terms are included that otherwise would violate the WTA, employers will want to make sure that the agreements contain appropriate recitations demonstrating that one of the exceptions in the statute would be applicable.

Third, employers will want to make sure they revise their policies and handbooks to reflect the protection of nonemployees from harassment and the changes to VESSA.

Fourth, employers will want to begin planning to conduct annual anti-harassment and discrimination training.

To the extent you have more questions about the WTA and the other provisions of Public Law 101-0221, you should feel free to contact us.

 

Court Holds Extended Leave Is Not An Accommodation Under the ADA

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fmlaIn a very employer-friendly decision, the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals held that the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) does not give employees the right to take an extended leave of absence.

In Severson v. Heartland Woodcraft, Inc., the 7th court considered a discrimination claim brought by an employee who was fired when his 12 weeks of FMLA-protected leave for a pre-existing back condition expired and he was still unable to return to work. The employee claimed that his firing violated the Americans with ADA because the “at least two additional months” that he needed to recover from surgery after his FMLA leave ended was a “reasonable accommodation.” The 7th Circuit strongly disagreed, holding that the employee’s proposed accommodation of at least two additional months of leave was not reasonable. According to the Court, the ADA “is an anti-discrimination statute, not a medical leave entitlement.”

This ruling is contrary to the position taken by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) that multi-month leaves of absences may be required under the ADA. According the EEOC, leave or extended leave as a job accommodation should be considered when a worker’s doctor is able to estimate a specific endpoint for the leave, the employee asks for the leave ahead of time, and the leave will likely enable the employee to fully perform the job afterward.

In light of the decision in Severson, employers (especially those in Illinois, Indiana and Wisconsin) can feel more comfortable refusing requests for multi-month and indefinite leave requests under the ADA. And while the language in Severson should apply to shorter leaves as well, its holding is limited to extended leaves, so employers still need to consider whether an employee’s request for a shorter leave (either after the expiration of an FMLA leave or if the employee did not qualify under the FMLA) would be a reasonable accommodation.

EEOC Speaks On Mental Health

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EEOC LOGOThe Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) recently published an informal publication outlining the rights of employees who suffer from depression, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and other mental health conditions under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Although nothing new per se, the publication serves as a great reminder as to the rights of employees with mental health conditions. The guidance addresses the following topics:

Discrimination. An employer may not discriminate against an employee — which includes firing, rejecting for a job or promotion, and forcing to take leave — simply because he or she has a covered mental health condition or has asked for a reasonable accommodation.

Privacy/Confidentiality. An employer may only ask medical questions (including questions about mental health) in the following situations:

  • When an employee asks for a reasonable accommodation.
  • After it has made a job offer, but before employment begins, as long as everyone entering the same job category is asked the same questions.
  • When it is engaging in affirmative action for people with disabilities, in which case an employee may choose whether to respond.
  • On the job, when there is objective evidence that an employee may be unable to do his or her job or that the employee may pose a safety risk because of the condition.
  • To establish eligibility for benefits under other laws, such as the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA).

If an employee informs an employer about a condition, the employer cannot discriminate against the employee, and it must keep the information confidential.

“Substantially limiting” condition. A condition does not have to be permanent or severe to qualify. What matters is that the condition — when the symptoms are present —  makes activities more difficult, uncomfortable, or time-consuming.

Reasonable Accommodation. The guidance encourages employees to ask for a reasonable accommodation before any problems occur or become worse. The EEOC gives the following examples of reasonable accommodations:

  • Altered break and work schedules (e.g., scheduling work around therapy appointments);
  • Quiet office space or devices that create a quiet work environment;
  • Changes in supervisory methods (e.g., written instructions from a supervisor who usually does not provide them);
  • Specific shift assignments; and
  • Permission to work from home.

The guidance notes that where an employee cannot perform all the essential functions of the job and no paid leave is available, an unpaid leave may be a reasonable accommodation if the leave will help the employee get to a point where he or she can perform those functions. Remember that an employer must provide a reasonable accommodation unless it involves substantial difficulty or expense.

Harassment. The guidance reiterates that harassment based on disability is prohibited under the ADA, and that employees should follow employers’ reporting procedures to report any harassment.

We suggest that you review the guidance and make sure that your current policies and practices comply.

 

 

EEOC Provides Guidance on Leave as a Reasonable Accommodation under the ADA

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EEOC LOGOEarlier this week, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) issued a new resource document on when leave constitutes a reasonable accommodation under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).  Although the EEOC has always taken the position that employer-provided leave can be a reasonable accommodation, the new document highlights some of the standards for when and how leave must be granted.  At its core, the EEOC resource clarifies that unpaid leave is a reasonable accommodation unless the employer can show that the leave causes an undue burden.

The new EEOC document covers the following topics and provides specific examples of each:

  • Equal Access To Leave.  Employees with disabilities must be afforded access to leave on the same basis as all other similarly-situated employees.  In other words, if an employer receives a request for leave from a qualified disabled employee, and the leave would be covered  under the employer’s existing leave policy, the employer must treat the individual the same as an employee who requests leave for reasons unrelated to a disability.  The EEOC notes here that “employers are entitled to have policies that require all employees to provide a doctor’s note or other documentation to substantiate the need for leave,” but employers can’t apply that requirement discriminatorily.
  • Unpaid Leave.  Employers must consider providing unpaid leave as a reasonable accommodation to an employee with a disability if the employee requires it to return to work, as long as the leave would not create an undue hardship on the employer’s operations or finances.  This is required even if: “the employer does not offer leave as an employee benefit; …the employee is not eligible for leave under the employer’s policy; or … the employee has exhausted the leave the employer provides as a benefit …”
  • Interactive Process.  The employer is required to engage in an “interactive process” with the employee once the employee requests leave and the employer determines that the leave is not permitted under another program (such as PTO, FMLA or Worker’s Compensation).  As the EEOC acknowledges, the interactive process will likely continue during the employee’s leave, with the employer checking in on the employee’s progress and/or need for additional leave. When a leave is at issue, the EEOC recommends that the  process focus on the following questions:
    • “the specific reason(s) the employee needs leave …
    • whether the leave will be a block of time…, or intermittent …; and
    • when the need for leave will end
  • Maximum Leave Policies.  Employers may have leave policies that establish a maximum amount of leave allowed, but more time above the maximum would be a reasonable accommodation, unless the employer can show that allowing such leave would cause an undue hardship.
  • Return to Work.  An employer cannot require an employee to be “100% healed or recovered” to return to work — it must provide the employee a reasonable accommodation (including reassignment, for example) as long as the accommodation does not create an undue hardship.  An employer can refuse to allow an employee to come back to work with a medical restrictions only if the employee would pose a “direct threat” of substantial harm to him/her self or to others.
  • Undue Hardship.  When considering whether a leave would cause an undue hardship, the EEOC considers the following factors:
    • “the amount and/or length of leave required…;
    • the frequency of the leave…;
    • whether there is any flexibility with respect to the days on which leave is taken…;
    • whether the need for intermittent leave on specific dates is predictable or unpredictable…;
    • the impact of the employee’s absence on coworkers and on whether specific job duties are being performed in an appropriate and timely manner…; and
    • the impact on the employer’s operations and its ability to serve customers/clients appropriately and in a timely manner, which takes into account, for example, the size of the employer.”

We encourage all employers to read this new EEOC resource document in full.  Although “nothing new” per se, it serves as a great reminder for ADA compliance and offers many specific examples that may be pertinent to your own employee leave issues.

 

 

Supreme Court Speaks on Religious Accommodation

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supreme court sealYesterday, the Supreme Court handed down its decision in EEOC v. Abercrombie & Fitch Stores, Inc., ruling in favor of a Muslim woman who claimed that she was denied employment at an Abercrombie & Fitch (A&F) store because she wore a headscarf.  With this decision, the Supreme Court sent a clear message: an employer may not make a hiring decision based on an applicant’s need for a religious accommodation, regardless of whether the employer had actual knowledge of such a need.

Samantha Elauf (Elauf) is a practicing Muslim who wears a headscarf for religious reasons. Elauf claims that she applied for a job at an A&F store and that, although she was otherwise qualified to be hired, she was ultimately denied employment because her headscarf would violate A&F’s “Look Policy.” The Look Policy prohibits “caps” because they are too informal for A&F’s desired image. Elauf never identified her headscarf as religious to anyone at A&F, nor did she ever communicate a need for any religious accommodation.  The EEOC sued A&F on Elauf’s behalf, claiming that A&F’s refusal to hire her violated Title VII.  In response, A&F argued that it could not be found to have discriminated against Elauf by failing to priovide a religious accommodation unless it had “actual knowledge” of Elauf’s need for a religious accommodation.  The district court disagreed with A&F’s argument and held in favor of Elauf the EEOC.  However, the Tenth Circuit reversed, agreeing with the “actual knowledge” standard put forth by A&F.

The Supreme Court reversed the Tenth Circuit and remanded the case for further consideration, holding that, under Title VII, an applicant only needs to show that her need for an accommodation was a “motivating factor” in the employer’s decision — she need not show that the employer had actual knowledge of the need for an accommodation. In other words, an “employer may not make an applicant’s religious practice, confirmed or otherwise, a factor in employment decisions” [emphasis added]. The Court gave as an example a situation where an employer thinks (but doesn’t know for sure) that a job applicant may be an orthodox Jew who will observe the Sabbath and thus unable to work on Saturdays. If the applicant actually does require accommodation of that religious practice and the employer’s wish to avoid the accommodation is a motivating factor in its decision to not hire the applicant, the employer violates Title VII. The Court was clear in its decision that its ruling only applies to accommodation under Title VII, and not to accommodation under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), which follows a different framework.

The take away here?  Employers need to avoid basing employment decisions on any protected characteristic — whether confirmed or suspected. Although this case centered on a hiring decision and the anticipated need for an accommodation, it should apply equally to other terms and conditions of employment.

We recommend that managers, supervisors and those involved in the hiring process be trained on the legal requirements surrounding equal employment opportunity and on how to appropriately respond to requests for  — or other information suggesting that there is a need for — an accommodation.

Full text of the EEOC v. Abercrombie & Fitch Stores, Inc. decision can be found at:  http://www.supremecourt.gov/

EEOC Issues Proposed Regulations on Employer Wellness Programs

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EEOC ImageCan your employees participate in a wellness program through work? Do you offer financial incentives for participating in the program? If so, listen up.

In April, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission issued proposed regulations focusing on how the American with Disabilities Act applies to corporate wellness programs. The proposed regulations give some guidance on how to legally use financial incentives to encourage workers to participate in such programs.

Although Title I of the ADA generally prohibits employers from obtaining medical information from employees, it allows employers to give medical examinations to employees and ask about their health if they are part of a voluntary “employee health program.” Before the proposed regulations, the EEOC had not yet determined whether employers could offer financial incentives to encourage employees to participate in such programs or whether offering incentives would make participation involuntary. The new proposed regulations answer these questions — according to the EEOC, employers may offer incentives up to 30% of the cost of the employee-only coverage to employees who participate in a wellness program and/or achieve certain health outcomes.

The proposed regulations (http://www.regulations.gov), in most pertinent part:

  • Define an “employee health program;”
  • Set forth the requirements that must be met for a program to be considered “voluntary;”
  • Detail the 30% of cost incentive limit; and
  • Set forth additional confidentiality requirements of information gathered during participation in wellness programs.

Although these regulations are only proposed and may or may not go into effect as written in the near future, we suggest that you review your wellness programs and corresponding financial incentives in light of the regulations. Please note that under existing laws – even before the introduction of the proposed regulations – you cannot:

  • Require employees to participate in a wellness program;
  • Deny health insurance to employees who do not participate in the program;
  • Take any adverse employment action or retaliate against, interfere with, coerce, or intimidate employees who do not participate in the program; or
  • Deny employees with disabilities reasonable accommodations that allow them to participate in a wellness program and receive any related incentives.

Supreme Court Speaks on Pregnancy Accommodation

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supreme court sealOver the next couple of days, we are catching up on some recent developments.  The first one we are going to discuss is the long-awaited decision by the Supreme Court inYoung v. UPS.

In Young, a pregnant employee requested light duty as an accommodation under the Pregnancy Discrimination Act (“PDA”).  The PDA is a subsection of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 that requires employers to treat “women affected by pregnancy…the same for all employment-related purposes…as other persons not so affected but similar in their ability or inability to work.”

The plaintiff argued that she should have been given light duty because the defendant, UPS, gave light duty assignments to employees with disabilities under the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”), those with workplace injuries, and those who had lost Department of Transportation (“DOT”) certifications.  UPS argued that it did not act unlawfully because it treated the plaintiff the same way it treated any other employee with physical limitations who did not meet UPS’ requirements for light duty — i.e., who did not have a disability under the ADA, did not have a workplace injury, and had not lost DOT certifications.

In its decision on March 25, 2015, the Court set out a new standard for assessing accommodation claims under the PDA. The Court held that a pregnant employee can make a prima facie case of pregnancy discrimination by showing that she requested an accommodation, that her request was denied, and that others similar in their ability or inability to work have been accommodated.  At that point, the employer must show that it had legitimate, nondiscriminatory reasons for accommodating other employees but not the pregnant employee.  The burden then shifts back to the employee to show that the employer’s reasons are pretexts for discrimination or that the employer’s policies impose a significant burden on pregnant employees which outweighs the employer’s reasons for the policies.

Although the decision did not go as far as some advocates for pregnant employees would have liked, it undoubtedly makes it easier for pregnant employees to bring claims under the PDA. Going forward, employers will be risking litigation if they reserve light duty assignments or other accommodations for only certain classes of employees, at least without a compelling justification for excluding pregnant employees.   In light of this, employers should review their policies and practices regarding pregnancy-related accommodations for consistency.  All requests for accommodation should be taken seriously and employers should gather as much information as possible in evaluating each individual request. Doing so may reduce the likelihood of future pregnancy-related claims, as well as protect employers from potential liability.

For the full decision in Young v. UPS, visit www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/slipopinions.aspx.