Pregnancy Discrimination Lawyers in New York City

Pregnancy Discrimination Is Not Acceptable in New York City Workplaces

While pregnancy can be a wonderful experience, it can also lead to employers, coworkers or customers acting on preconceived ideas about what a pregnant worker is capable of doing. You should be able to come to the workplace and be free from discriminatory attitudes because of your pregnancy, labor, or childbirth. If you suffered pregnancy discrimination on the job, you should call the trusted New York City pregnancy discrimination lawyers of Phillips & Associates. Our firm seeks the best results for pregnant workers and mothers. We have negotiated many settlements and won substantial awards at trials.

Talk to Phillips & Associates About Whether You Have a Pregnancy Discrimination Lawsuit

There are many forms of pregnancy discrimination you could face on the job, whether you are trying to become pregnant and start a family, or you are already pregnant. Discrimination occurs if your employer or prospective employer takes an adverse action against you based on your pregnancy.

Adverse employment actions that may be actionable in New York City can include failure to hire, firing, layoffs, failure to promote, demotion, harassment, disparate pay, and failure to provide reasonable accommodation. Sometimes discrimination is subtle and can result in discretionary personnel decisions or getting passed over for plumb opportunities. If you face these actions and believe it’s because of your pregnancy, pregnancy-related condition, or childbirth, you should call our discrimination lawyers who serve New York City workers.

You aren’t required to disclose your pregnancy to your employer unless it interferes you’re your ability to do your job. You also aren’t required to take a leave of absence based on your pregnancy unless you become unable to perform your job duties in a reasonable fashion because of your pregnancy. For example, if you are no longer able to stand because of the pregnancy-related condition pubic symphysis, and your job involves standing for 8 hours, you may need to take a leave of absence.

does the pregnancy discrimination act Protect Me as a Pregnant Woman?

The federal Pregnancy Discrimination Act prohibits discrimination against workers based on their pregnancy, pregnancy-related condition, or labor. Under this law, you are supposed to be provided accommodations in line with what an employer provides a temporarily disabled employee whether that is a modification to the job or leave. However, this law applies only to those businesses that have at least 15 employees.

If we represent you, our New York City discrimination lawyers will also look at whether you can seek relief under other laws. Regardless of their size, all employers are prohibited from making employment decisions based on your pregnancy under the New York State Human Rights Law. Additionally, the state law explicitly defines pregnancy-related conditions such as preeclampsia or gestational diabetes as disabilities that require your employer to provide reasonable accommodations for them. Your employer doesn’t need to provide an accommodation if he experiences an undue burden as a result. Reasonable accommodations for pregnancy-related conditions could include a modified work schedule, rest or water breaks, and medical leave, along with transfers away from dangerous work or reassignment to light duty during the pregnancy.

The New York City Human Rights Law also protects you as a pregnant worker and affirmatively requires your employer to reasonably accommodate you without needing you to show your limitation qualifies as a disability.

Assuming you are eligible and work for a covered employer, the federal Family Medical Leave Act also allows for unpaid, job-protected leave for 12 weeks for the birth of a child. This leave can be taken by both the mother and the father.

Consult a Seasoned Pregnancy Discrimination Lawyer Serving New York City

If we can establish liability, we may be able to recover compensatory damages on your behalf. These are damages intended to make you whole for the discrimination you recovered. The harm you suffered will determine the amount and type of compensatory damages you can recover. When an employer’s conduct is egregious, we may be able to obtain punitive damages, which are damages intended to punish and deter.

Pregnancy discrimination can occur across classes and industries. Women are affected not only in construction or factories, but also in high-pressure white collar jobs involving medicine or litigation. At Phillips & Associates, our employment discrimination lawyers represent pregnant workers harmed by bigotry in Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx, Staten Island, Nassau County, or Suffolk County workplaces. If you were harmed in this way, give the trusted New York City employment discrimination lawyers of Phillips & Associates a call at (866) 229-9441 or complete our online form. We understand that it is terrifying to face the prospect of losing your job or losing your source of income altogether, and we represent workers on a contingency fee basis and offer free consultations.

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