By refusing to accommodate a request by a pregnant UPS employee to be put on ‘light duty’, the shipment and logistics company may actually have disadvantaged this employee compared with other employees also constrained to ‘light duty’ due to disability or work related accidents. In a decision handed down on March 25, the US Supreme Court recognized the rights of a pregnant employee to require her employer explain why she was not accorded the same type of workplace accommodation as her colleagues.
Should pregnant employees who require work related accommodation receive the same treatment as their colleagues who may require the same type of accommodation due to, for example, a work related accident? This is essentially what the US Supreme court had to decide upon after a former UPS employee, Peggy Young, filed a complaint against her employer. UPS required Peggy Young take unpaid maternity leave after she asked the company to accommodate her doctor’s recommendation that she only lift...
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