Fighting Pregnancy Discrimination

In a recent ruling, the Washington State Supreme Court confirmed that an employer’s refusal to employ a pregnant woman is a form of sex discrimination, ruling that pregnancy is not a disability subject to a reasonable accommodation analysis under disability law.  The majority opinion in Hegwine v. Longview Fibre Company, Inc., adopts the position that we advocated for in our friend-of-the-court brief supporting Stacy Hegwine.  read our brief>>

This decision ensures an important protection for women in the workplace.  We’re glad that the Court has recognized that pregnancy claims are not about disability – they’re about sex, and about stereotypes that women still suffer from.  And the Court sent a clear message that employers may not ask applicants about pregnancy unless they can show that excluding pregnant women is essential to a position, or that substantially all pregnant women are incapable of performing the job.

Ms. Hegwine had been offered employment as an order checker at Longview Fibre Company, but was fired after the company learned that she was pregnant.  Although the job listing had contained no lifting requirements, the employer claimed Ms. Hegwine could not perform the job because it required lifting weight greater than her doctor had released her to lift. The company fired her, rather than accommodate what it argued was her pregnancy-related disability.

The Washington Supreme Court sided with Ms. Hegwine, stating in clear language that “pregnancy-related employment discrimination claims are matters of sex discrimination.”  Employers cannot treat pregnancy as a disability to avoid providing accommodations for any temporary inability to work caused by pregnancy or a pregnancy-related condition.  Further, the Court confirmed that inquiring into a prospective employee’s pregnancy status constitutes unlawful sex discrimination, unless the inquiry is based on a valid bona fide occupational qualification.

Learn more about your rights to be free of employment discrimination