EEOC sues employer for violating Pregnant Workers Fairness Act

Accommodation missteps

The EEOC charged the company for refusing to accommodate pregnancy-related lifting restrictions of employees throughout its Illinois facilities. One employee was allegedly sent home and fired after company officials told her that her doctor’s note was “not good enough” and that “we don’t want to be responsible if you miscarry.”

The complaint alleges that another pregnant employee was placed on unpaid leave rather than being accommodated. She was then fired when her leave expired.

The lawsuit also claims the company failed to accommodate nursing mothers who needed breaks and a private space to pump breast milk. Instead, allegedly the company required women to:

• Pump in their cars or in rooms without locks,
• Denied them adequate time to pump, and
• Refused one employee’s request to continue taking a single pumping break during her lunch beyond 1 year after childbirth.

The company accommodated employees with lifting restrictions arising from on-the-job injuries by assigning them to light duty but refused to do the same for its pregnant employees, the suit alleges.

Some of the women were forced to quit as a result of the lack of accommodations.

“The Pregnant Workers Fairness Act requires employers to provide reasonable accommodations for limitations related to pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions, including lifting restrictions and the need to pump breast milk at work,” said Catherine Eschbach, acting EEOC general counsel. “Employers cannot force pregnant workers onto leave, or push nursing mothers out of their jobs, when a reasonable accommodation would allow them to keep working.”

The EEOC seeks monetary damages, including back pay, compensatory and punitive damages, and injunctive relief against the employer to prevent similar unlawful conduct in the future.

Will changes be coming to the PWFA?

There are potential changes coming to the PWFA that may (or may not) impact cases like this in the future.

When the EEOC published its 2026 regulatory agenda on July 6, the agency indicated that it plans to publish a proposed rule in November that would revise the PWFA regulations. The EEOC seeks to change the interpretation of the words “pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions.”

After the public has a chance to review the proposed rule and add comments, the EEOC will review the comments and the rule will proceed to the next steps in the regulatory process.

A final rule addresses the public comments submitted in response to a proposed rule to help determine the final regulatory language. When an agency publishes a final rule, generally the rule is effective no less than 30 days after the date of publication in the Federal Register.

Key to remember: Covered employers must provide reasonable accommodations for pregnancy-related restrictions, unless it would cause an undue hardship for the business.