Legislative lowdown: EEOC files first lawsuit to enforce the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) recently filed its first lawsuit to enforce the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA), which took effect last year.

The lawsuit, which the agency announced on Sept. 10, alleges that the semi-trailer and commercial trucking manufacturer Wabash National violated federal laws, including the PWFA, when it denied a pregnant employee’s accommodation request. The employee asked to be transferred to a role that did not require her to lie on her stomach, according to the EEOC. Rather than grant her request, the company allegedly told her to take unpaid leave, which left her to return to work in the same job. Ultimately, the employee resigned from her role when she was nearly eight months pregnant, the agency said.

In denying this employee’s accommodation, Wabash violated not only the PWFA, but also Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and the Americans with Disabilities Act, the EEOC alleges.

What HR should know about PWFA enforcement. In a statement, Kenneth L. Bird, the EEOC’s regional attorney in Indianapolis, expressed hope that this case “will educate the public” about protections afforded to workers under the PWFA, “and help to ensure that employers heed them.”

The PWFA, which took effect in June 2023, requires employers with 15 or more workers to provide reasonable accommodations to employees who are pregnant, have given birth, or are experiencing related medical conditions, unless such accommodations pose an undue hardship to the employer.

A final EEOC rule that took effect in June of this year indicates a handful of accommodations—including allowing additional restroom breaks, and allowing workers to carry or keep water nearby, and drink it as needed—should almost always be considered reasonable. The EEOC also considers abortion to be a covered condition under which workers may request PWFA accommodations, a view that prompted legal challenges to the rule.

The EEOC recently said it’s received nearly 2,000 charges of potential violations of the PWFA since the law took effect, with most workers alleging their employer denied “basic, common sense” accommodations such as additional water breaks or authorization for late arrival due to morning sickness, Bloomberg Law reported.

It may behoove HR leaders to take caution around requiring documentation from employees who request PWFA accommodations, as the law only allows employers to seek out documentation under “reasonable” circumstances. If the request is obvious, for example—such as needing a bigger uniform due to the pregnancy—the EEOC won’t consider documentation to be a reasonable ask. In its recent lawsuit, the EEOC alleged Wabash unlawfully required the pregnant worker to provide medical documentation in response to her request.