EEOC files first Pregnant Workers Fairness Act lawsuit

A manufacturing company violated the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA) and other laws by denying a pregnant truck builder’s request for transfer to a position that did not require extensive bending or lying on her stomach, the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) alleges in a new lawsuit.

The lawsuit is the first ever that the EEOC has filed under the PWFA, a 2023 law that requires covered employers to reasonably accommodate qualified employees and applicants with known limitations related to pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions, barring undue hardship.

“This is the first lawsuit we’ve filed to enforce the [PWFA], but it’s just one of the many ways the EEOC has been working to fulfill the promise of the PWFA since it took effect,” EEOC Chair Charlotte A. Burrows said in a statement. “The EEOC will continue to use all its tools – including enforcement, education, and outreach – to ensure workers are aware of their rights, and that employers meet their responsibilities under this new law.”

“We are eager to vindicate this worker’s rights and secure relief to prevent future pregnancy discrimination,” EEOC Trial Attorney Kathleen Bensberg added.

The defendant in the lawsuit, Wabash National, said in a statement: “Wabash has always been and continues to be committed to taking care of our employees, including our pregnant employees, and complying with the law. We will respond to these claims in due course.”

Employers that violate the PWFA may be liable for compensatory and punitive damages; injunctive and other equitable relief; and attorney’s fees.

Earlier this year, the EEOC issued regulations for the PWFA that define pregnancy, childbirth or related medical condition broadly, encompassing current pregnancy, past pregnancy, potential or intended pregnancy (including infertility, fertility treatment and contraception), labor, childbirth, termination of pregnancy (including miscarriage, stillbirth and abortion), lactation and many associated health conditions.

The state attorneys general of 17 states have filed a lawsuit challenging the regulations; they claimed that the provisions requiring time off and other accommodations for abortions are “an attempt to rewrite that law into an abortion mandate.”