Employer Law Blog

On July 14, 2014, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC") issued Enforcement Guidance on Pregnancy Discrimination, which marks the first comprehensive update in over three decades. In the Enforcement Guidance, the EEOC forewarns that it will be much easier to demonstrate that pregnancy-related impairments are "disabilities" under the Americans with Disabilities Act ("ADA"). This change will expand employees’ rights under the Pregnancy Discrimination Act ("PDA") and require employers to make a reasonable accommodation to pregnant employees.

Last month, the Northern District of Illinois recently ruled in Isbell v. John Crane, Inc., that an Employer violated the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA” or “the Act”) when it unilaterally changed an Employee’s later start time as an accommodation for her difficulty functioning in early morning. For two years, the Employer granted the Employee a later start time to accommodate for her difficulty being able to work effectively until the Employee’s medication had an opportunity to take effect. The Employee was diagnosed with attention deficit and bipolar disorders.