Los Angeles Pregnancy Discrimination Lawyer

Speak to a Los Angeles Pregnancy Discrimination Lawyer

Pregnancy discrimination is against the law in California and comes with several protections and potential legal remedies. As a pregnant woman who believes she has suffered discrimination, you can explore your rights and options with help from Nosrati Law. Our Los Angeles pregnancy discrimination lawyers can work diligently on your behalf through the use of various investigative techniques and other litigation strategies to help obtain evidence of the discriminatory conduct to help support your case. We work on a contingency basis, so you won’t owe legal fees unless we recover compensation for you. We can discuss your case over the phone, and virtual consultations are available for your convenience. We serve clients in both English and Spanish.

What Are Your Rights as a Pregnant Employee in California?

As a pregnant employee, you have the same rights as other workers, as well as a variety of other rights specifically in place for expecting mothers. You have the right to a safe and comfortable workplace that does not submit you to hostility or discrimination. You also have rights related to your pregnancy, such as the right to request reasonable accommodations for a pregnancy-related limitation, the right to take leave when the law provides it, and the right to apply for a job without an employer refusing to hire you because you’re pregnant.

Unfortunately, some employers engage in pregnancy discrimination after they find out an employee or applicant is pregnant. Some employees might notice changes to their employment status, pay, or privileges. Retaliation can also arise after an employee requests an accommodation, takes or requests leave, reports discrimination, or participates in an investigation. If you lose your job, take a pay cut, face harassment, or otherwise experience issues you think are connected to your pregnancy, speaking with a Los Angeles pregnancy discrimination lawyer about your legal rights is a reasonable next step.

Employees who experience discrimination can file a claim or lawsuit against their employer. Taking legal action can shed light on the employer’s conduct and may result in recovery of damages, which can include lost wages, lost career opportunities, and emotional distress, depending on the facts and the claims pursued.

Laws Protecting Pregnant Employees in California

There are state and federal laws protecting pregnant employees and new parents.

Here’s a brief overview of the federal and California-specific laws that may apply:

1. Pregnancy Discrimination Act: The PDA is part of Title VII and bans covered employers from discriminating on the basis of pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions. It generally applies to employers with 15 or more employees.
2. California Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA): The FEHA makes pregnancy discrimination illegal for employers with five or more workers and contains provisions regarding pregnancy leave and reasonable accommodations. Under FEHA, it is illegal for covered employers to discriminate regarding privileges or job compensation because of pregnancy, childbirth, or related conditions.
3. California Family Rights Act (CFRA): The CFRA provides eligible employees with job-protected leave for child bonding and other qualifying reasons. CFRA bonding leave is a separate protection from Pregnancy Disability Leave, with different eligibility requirements and purposes.

The Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA) is a more recent federal law that requires covered employers to provide reasonable accommodations for a worker’s known limitations related to pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions, unless doing so would cause undue hardship. California Pregnancy Disability Leave (PDL) can provide up to four months of leave per pregnancy for an employee with a pregnancy-related disability when the employer has five or more employees.

There is also the federal Family and Medical Leave Act and the New Parent Leave Act. As you can see, there is no shortage of pregnancy discrimination laws that exist to protect pregnant employees. Questions about which laws apply, and what deadlines or eligibility thresholds may affect your situation, are best addressed with case-specific legal advice rather than a single universal rule.

Accommodation & Leave Problems During Pregnancy

Discrimination doesn’t always look like a firing. Many pregnancy-related workplace claims arise from denied accommodations or interference with leave rights, and these issues can be just as serious.

Accommodation issues can involve denied requests for schedule changes, additional breaks, modified duties, temporary reassignment, seating, or telework. An employer’s refusal to engage in an accommodation process at all can also be a problem under applicable law. Leave issues can include denial of Pregnancy Disability Leave, interference with CFRA or FMLA rights, an employer’s failure to return an employee to the same or a comparable position after leave, or adverse treatment after an employee returns. The California Civil Rights Department notes that PDL and CFRA bonding leave serve different purposes and may apply at different stages of pregnancy and new parenthood.

If you’ve been denied an accommodation or experienced problems with leave, our team can discuss what happened and help you understand what options may be available. We offer free consultations and represent clients on a contingency basis.

Proving Discrimination Based on Pregnancy-Related Disability

Discrimination based on pregnancy-related disability can be established in two ways: either by direct evidence or circumstantial evidence. Direct evidence can be comments made to an employee showing a discriminatory bias. Circumstantial evidence can include a showing that the employee was performing her job in a satisfactory manner and an adverse employment action was taken based on her pregnancy-related disability. The evidence has to be strong enough to overcome any non-discriminatory reason offered by the employer for the particular action taken against the employee.

Potential evidence in a pregnancy discrimination case can include emails, text messages, performance records, leave requests, accommodation requests, medical certifications, job postings, witness information, and the timing surrounding pregnancy disclosure or a workplace complaint. The evidence that matters most depends on the specific legal claim, the employer’s explanation, and the surrounding facts.

Examples of Unlawful Pregnancy Discrimination

Virtually any action or failure to act that does not fulfill the requirements of pregnancy and employment laws is pregnancy discrimination. There are many examples of pregnancy discrimination that can affect California workers. Knowing what pregnancy discrimination could look like can help you spot it and put an end to it. Discrimination may occur before hiring, during pregnancy, during leave, after childbirth, or when an employee returns to work.

Examples can include:

• Not choosing a qualified job applicant because she is pregnant or may someday become pregnant.
• Firing, demoting, or docking the pay of a woman because of medical issues related to pregnancy.
• Failing to provide reasonable accommodations for pregnant women and related disabilities, such as not being able to lift heavy loads.
• Refusing to give a woman reasonable time off for pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions (if the law entitles her to take this time off).
• Discriminating against a female employee because she needs to breastfeed or pump, including failing to provide required lactation accommodations.
• Punishing an employee because she is pregnant or might become pregnant.
• Harassing an employee because she is pregnant (e.g., physical assaults, threats, intimidation, or offensive jokes).
• Making job decisions such as hiring, firing, pay, job assignments, layoffs, training, and benefits based on pregnancy.
• Forcing a pregnant employee to take time off or reassigning the person to a less stressful job.
• Setting restrictions on medical leave relating to the pregnancy, delivery, or complications.
• Retaliating against an employee who files a complaint about pregnancy or sex discrimination, requests an accommodation, requests leave, or participates in an investigation.

If any of these situations sound familiar, you might be the victim of pregnancy discrimination. In California, you have rights as an expecting mother.

Elements You Need to Prove Your Claim

The “elements” of a claim are the facts the filing party (the plaintiff) must prove for a successful case. A pregnancy discrimination attorney in Los Angeles can help you with the elements of an employment action, gathering evidence and taking the necessary steps to support your case during arbitration or in front of a judge and jury. There are four main factual considerations in a pregnancy discrimination claim:

1. State or federal pregnancy discrimination laws apply to your employer.
2. Your employer took negative action against you, such as refusing to hire you or firing you (“Adverse Employment Action”).
3. Your pregnancy or related condition was a motivating factor for the employer’s adverse action.
4. You suffered harm because of the negative action, such as lost wages or emotional distress.

Whether a claim is viable depends on the applicable law, employer coverage, the facts connecting the action to pregnancy or a related condition, available evidence, and the harm suffered. Filing routes and deadlines can vary by claim and forum, so it’s important to obtain case-specific advice rather than rely on a single universal deadline. Potential remedies may include job reinstatement, back pay, out-of-pocket expenses, front pay, court costs, attorney’s fees, emotional distress damages, and punitive damages where the facts support them.