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Member, Beacon International Group, Ltd.
(Reuters) — The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday revived a woman driver’s pregnancy discrimination claim against package delivery company UPS Inc. by sending the case back to a lower court.
On a 6-3 vote, the court said worker Peggy Young would have another chance to litigate whether the company should have granted her request for temporary changes in work duties after she became pregnant in 2006. The case focused on whether employers must provide accommodations for pregnant workers who may have physical limitations on tasks they can perform.
Writing on behalf of the majority, Justice Stephen Breyer said that the lower court is required to determine if the employer had “legitimate, nondiscriminatory, nonpretextual justification” for treating employees differently.
Breyer said there is a “genuine dispute as to whether UPS provided more favorable treatment to at least some employees whose situation cannot reasonably be distinguished from Young’s.”
The two sides disagreed over whether UPS agreed to accommodate non-pregnant workers requesting light-duty assignments.
LAS VEGAS — Pregnancy and transgender discrimination are among the employment practices liability claims likely to continue to trouble employers, while the National Labor Relations Board's aggressive stance on the use of social media by employees is a major concern as well.