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Remember: Pregnant Employees Are Entitled to Reasonable Accommodations Too!It should come as no surprise that employers must treat pregnant employees just like everyone else when it comes to reasonable accommodations. We’ve blogged on this topic several times before, but a recent lawsuit by the EEOC in North Carolina merits a renewed focus on the issue.

The EEOC has sued Century Care of Laurinburg, Inc. d/b/a Scottish Pines Rehabilitation & Nursing Center over its treatment of two pregnant certified nursing assistants (CNA). According to the complaint, both CNAs requested accommodations to not lift more than a certain weight—an accommodation allegedly given to other employees who had been injured on the job. The EEOC says that the employer said such light duty was only available to employees with on-the-job injuries and denied the accommodations. When the CNAs’ doctors would not revoke the lifting restrictions and they had no more leave available, they were terminated. The complaint is seeking injunctive relief (including company policy changes), back pay, compensatory damages, and punitive damages on behalf of the terminated nurses.

Although the end result is yet to be seen, this case serves as a good reminder to employers to be careful when considering accommodations, especially when dealing with pregnancy-related accommodations. The Pregnancy Discrimination Act (PDA) prohibits discrimination on the basis of pregnancy, childbirth, and related medical conditions and provides that “women affected by pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions shall be treated the same for all employment-related purposes, including receipt of benefits under fringe benefit programs, as other persons not so affected but similar in their ability or inability to work.” This means that employers must treat pregnant employees the same as other employees. If a pregnant employee requests accommodation, the employer must consider a reasonable accommodation just like it would for a non-pregnant employee with a medical condition. That doesn’t mean that a pregnant employee must receive the requested accommodation. But the Scottish Pines lawsuit reminds employers to consider a pregnant employee’s request for reasonable accommodation just like any other request and that treating on-the-job injuries differently can land you in court.

Another Severance Agreement Bites the Dust: EEOC Continues Its Campaign against Provisions that Preclude Talking to the Government

Ever wonder why the severance agreement that I (or your other favorite employment lawyer) send you says “nothing in this Agreement prevents Employee from filing a charge with the EEOC” (or words to that effect)? I mean, isn’t that the point of the agreement? You pay the employee money, and he or she can’t file a charge or lawsuit against you? Well, a recently announced settlement from the EEOC provides some insight.

Background

An employee with the Coleman Company filed an EEOC charge alleging that the company discriminated against the employee based on a disability. After investigating, the EEOC found that it was probable that the company violated Section 503 of Americans with Disabilities Act and Section 704 and 706 of Title VII—the retaliation provisions. How, you may ask? According to the EEOC’s announcement,

the company conditioned “employees’ receipt of severance pay on an overly broad severance agreement that interfered with employees’ rights to file charges and communicate with the EEOC, and which precluded employees from accepting any relief obtained by the EEOC, should the agency take further action.”

Coleman has agreed to hire a consultant to review its severance agreements and make changes if necessary. The company will also notify employees who signed agreements in the last few years about their rights.

Now What?

Keep in mind that the EEOC’s announcement does not indicate that Coleman discriminated against the former employee based on a disability. This conciliation was all about a provision in the severance agreement. So, it appears that the company did what it was supposed to do under the ADA but is being chastised only for its form agreement.

The EEOC has made clear that it is concerned about the breadth of severance agreements. In fact, preserving access to the legal system, including addressing overbroad separation agreements, is part of its Strategic Enforcement Plan.

Note that the EEOC’s agreement with Coleman goes well beyond the current charging party. Not only must Coleman review and perhaps revise its current agreement, it must notify any employees who signed similar agreements in recent years. Once the EEOC is looking at an issue in your workplace, it can expand beyond the current employee.

So what’s the moral of the story? When your labor lawyer includes language that carves out someone’s ability to talk to the EEOC (or any other government agency), listen.

The More You Know…Or Others Think You Know: Fifth Circuit Finds Decision-maker Had Knowledge to Constitute RetaliationThe Fifth Circuit has issued another opinion in the continuing saga of Jackson State University and its past athletic director, Dr. Vivian Fuller—this one about retaliation against a witness. To refresh everyone’s memory: A secretary at JSU filed an EEOC charge claiming that AD Fuller sexually harassed her and then fired her. During its investigation, JSU’s attorneys and the EEOC interviewed Fred Robinson, the Director of Sports Medicine, who witnessed some of the AD’s actions. A month after those interviews, AD Fuller terminated Robinson. He felt it was retaliation for his testimony; JSU said it was due to a reorganization of the athletic department and issues with Robinson’s daily availability.

The District Court Case and Verdict

Robinson sued JSU alleging retaliation under Title VII and the First Amendment. The case went to trial and the two big questions were: 1) Did Dr. Fuller actually know that the EEOC interviewed Robinson, and 2) were the reasons for Robinson’s termination simply pretext for retaliation? At trial, Dr. Fuller denied any knowledge of Robinson’s interviews. Without direct evidence, Robinson offered circumstantial evidence including: 1) He was fired not long after his EEOC interview; 2) JSU’s own attorneys knew about the interview and met with Fuller after the interview; 3) Dr. Fuller started avoiding him after the interview; and 4) JSU’s president had threatened to fire anyone who was against the AD (pretty strong one, there). JSU countered by claiming that Dr. Fuller had already decided to fire Robinson before the interview even occurred and also came up with some other incidents.

The jury sided with Robinson and awarded him just over $30,000 in compensatory damages and $75,000 in punitive damages. JSU moved to set aside the verdict claiming that there was insufficient evidence to show that the decision-maker, Dr. Fuller, had actual knowledge of Robinson’s EEOC interview, so she could not have retaliated against him for it. The court agreed with JSU and overturned the verdict. Robinson appealed.

What the Fifth Circuit Said

The Fifth Circuit narrowed the issue to whether there was legally sufficient evidence that Robinson’s EEOC interview (the protected activity) caused his termination (the adverse employment action). If Dr. Fuller had no knowledge of the protected activity, the termination could not be retaliation. The court noted that direct proof that a decision-maker had knowledge could be “elusive” — almost all of the people being accused of retaliating are going to feign ignorance of anything that could have given them a motive. For example, “I had no idea that Suzie had reported our slippery floors to OSHA! I terminated her only because we no longer needed an accountant.”

In the Fifth Circuit (Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas), for a successful retaliation claim you have to show that the actual decision-maker had knowledge — not just that the corporation had constructive knowledge (as it is in other federal circuits). In this case, JSU argued that all of Robinson’s evidence was merely speculative. However, as the Fifth Circuit noted, it obviously was enough for the jury. The indirect and circumstantial evidence, such as the president’s threat to fire anyone who opposed the AD and the JSU’s attorneys meeting with the AD after the EEOC’s interview with Robinson, were, according to the Court, the “prototypical circumstantial indicators of decision-maker knowledge.” In regular speak, it was enough to convince the jury, and ultimately the Fifth Circuit, that Dr. Fuller knew about Robinson’s interview, despite her denials. The Fifth Circuit reversed the lower court’s striking of the verdict.

What Does this Teach Us?

Just because you have a decision-maker who says he didn’t know about a complaint (or EEOC charge, OSHA report, ADA request, or whatever) before he terminated the complaining employee or one of her witnesses that may not get you off the retaliation hook. Before you pull the trigger, you need to look at all the circumstances surrounding the potential adverse employment decision. Is it close in time to the protected activity (e.g., complaint, testimony)? Who knows about the protected activity, and what access have they had to your decision-maker? Has your CEO or anyone else made any threats or other comments about the claim that could hurt down the road?

As we always say, retaliation can be tricky. You have to not only defend the complaint but also prevent the retaliation fallout. While filing a complaint doesn’t make an employee bulletproof, it should at least make the employer take a good look at any future decisions that may affect that person or his or her supporters.