Dallas EEOC settles pregnancy bias case with Texas employer

In mid-May, the Dallas office of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) settled a pregnancy discrimination lawsuit with a Texas-based employer. It has been a while since we looked at the Pregnancy Discrimination Act (PDA), and I thought a refresher and an update are in order.

Recovery from giving birth vs. recovery from broken arm

That was pretty much the scenario confronting the EEOC as it began investigating a discrimination charge filed by Stephanie Armstrong against her former employer, American Addiction Centers, Inc. According to the agency, the employee sought a month-long maternity leave after her baby was born.

The employer told Armstrong she didn’t yet qualify for Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) leave but did approve a month off. Turns out, Armstrong had to have an emergency C-section, and her doctor told her she needed an additional month off. When she told her employer she needed another month, it allegedly told her, according to the EEOC, she could “reapply when she was cleared to return to work.”

Well, the EEOC investigated and found the employer had provided extended periods of leave for nonpregnant employees. (I imagined the broken arm as an illustration.) So the agency's formula kicked in: Same situation + different treatment = unlawful discrimination.