Do We Need Pregnancy Discrimination Laws?
Posted by Advocate Aaron on June 9, 2009 · Leave a Comment
Pregnancy discrimination is a terrible thing, especially when hard-working women are punished in the workplace because they are pregnant. That’s why we need pregnancy discrimination laws – or do we?
In a recent ABC News piece (http://abcnews.go.com/2020/Business/Story?id=7479662&page=3), Carrie Lucas from the Independent Women’s Forum wonders if the Pregnancy Discrimination Act, which makes it illegal to fire or refuse to hire a woman because she is pregnant, has actually made it more difficult for women to find and maintain employment.
The irony is thick: anti-discrimination laws breeding discrimination? But Lucas might have a point – since the PDA was enacted, more women have filed discrimination complaints, and employers might be afraid to fire women who are not doing a good job, viewing them as potential lawsuits. Just because the law says employers can’t fire or not hire a woman because she is pregnant, doesn’t mean they can’t find another reason to justify their decisions.
On the other hand, perhaps the law has no teeth – employers are actively practicing pregnancy discrimination because they think it can’t be proven, and they therefore can’t be penalized. This is not a case where you say, “Oh, the law’s not working – they’re still discriminating, so we might as well repeal it.” Instead, the law needs some teeth. But it also needs to be fair – frivolous lawsuits should be tossed; those with merit should be adjudicated.
For large corporations, it might be easy to track and survey with accuracy the number of pregnant women per capita, and their perception of how their firm treated them during their pregnancies. For small businesses, especially those with fewer than 100 employees, this would be impossible to do.
If pregnancy discrimination laws put women at a disadvantage, it is because the laws are not being enforced – NOT because the laws shouldn’t exist.
