WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Chris Coons (D-Del.), a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, teamed up with 122 members of Congress on Thursday to file an amicus curiae brief to the Supreme Court on behalf of Peggy Young, a UPS worker who was denied accommodations that would have allowed her to continue working during her pregnancy.

In her case, Young v. UPS, Ms. Young argues that UPS violated the Pregnancy Discrimination Act (PDA) when it refused to provide modifications to her job that would have allowed her to keep working, even though similar modifications were routinely offered to other employees with comparable limitations. As a result, Ms. Young was forced off her job for 6.5 months and lost her benefits. The case was brought to the Supreme Court after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit upheld a district court ruling in favor of UPS.

In the brief, the members’ wrote, “The legislative history of the PDA clearly reflects Congress’s intention to protect pregnant workers by defining the sole factor employers may use to distinguish between pregnant workers and others in deciding whether to extend benefits in employment as one that is based on the ability or inability to work.”

Senator Coons is a cosponsor of the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA), which would strengthen the rights of pregnant workers to request reasonable accommodations during their pregnancies without fear of retribution. Delaware unanimously passed its own version of the PWFA this summer, and it was signed into law by Governor Markell this week.

The brief notes that while the proposed PWFA would serve to strengthen and reinforce the guarantee of equal treatment in the Pregnancy Discrimination Act, the PDA alone is sufficient to protect workers like Peggy Young from discrimination. The members noted that, “nothing in the PWFA or the fact it has been proposed implies that the Fourth Circuit decision is anything other than an inappropriate judicial rewriting of unambiguous statutory language.” 

Young v. UPS

According to Ms. Young’s case, accommodations were routinely given to workers with temporary injuries, but when Peggy Young asked for an accommodation to comply with her doctor’s recommendation that she not lift boxes over 20 pounds, her employer denied the request. 

Ms. Young sued UPS for discrimination but lost her case in the lower courts, with the Fourth Circuit finding that UPS’ policy of accommodating workers with disabilities, workers injured on the job, and workers who had lost their commercial driver’s licenses, was a pregnancy-blind rule that did not violate the Pregnancy Discrimination Act. Young v. UPS is scheduled to be heard by the Supreme Court on December 3, 2014.

Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA)

Though the PDA has been law since 1978, pregnancy discrimination in the workplace remains a serious problem. Today, pregnant working women around the country are still being denied simple adjustments – permission to use a stool while working a cash register, to carry a bottle of water to stay hydrated, or temporary reassignment to lighter duty tasks – that would keep them working and supporting their families while maintaining healthy pregnancies. The PWFA will close legal loopholes and ensure that pregnant women are treated fairly on the job.