Discrimination & Equal Rights

Pregnancy Discrimination in Employment

Q: We're a small business. These big company rules don't apply to us.

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Q: You're still in your probationary period, so we can let you go without any reason.

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Your Pregnancy Is Not a Liability — It's a Protected Status

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The Situation

What They Said

“We need someone reliable. You're pregnant — we can't plan around that.”

Pregnancy discrimination is one of the most common forms of sex discrimination in the American workplace. Women who are pregnant, have recently given birth, or have related medical conditions are regularly passed over for promotions, forced out of jobs, denied accommodations, or simply told — as in this scenario — that their condition makes them unfit for employment. This happens across industries, from retail and food service to corporate offices and healthcare settings. The financial stakes are enormous. Many pregnant workers are the primary earners in their households, and losing a job or being denied hire at this vulnerable time can have devastating consequences for the entire family. Yet the fear of seeming 'difficult' or 'litigious,' combined with a lack of awareness of the law, means many women accept this treatment in silence. The law, however, is clear and comprehensive on this point. Federal protections for pregnant workers were significantly strengthened with the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, which took effect in 2023 and for the first time created an explicit right to reasonable accommodations for pregnancy, childbirth, and related conditions — modelled on the ADA. Combined with the longstanding Pregnancy Discrimination Act, pregnant workers in the United States have some of the strongest statutory protections of any working group. Note: State law may provide additional protections beyond the federal baseline described here.

The Fallacy

The 'Reliability' Pretext Fallacy

The argument that a pregnant employee is inherently 'unreliable' or presents unacceptable planning difficulties is a classic pretext for sex discrimination. It treats a medically normal, legally protected condition as a disqualifying character flaw. An employer who would hire a non-pregnant woman with identical qualifications but refuse to hire or accommodate a pregnant one is engaging in textbook pregnancy discrimination — substituting an assumption about a class of people for an assessment of the individual. This reasoning is also demonstrably false as a business matter. Pregnant employees work reliably through most of their pregnancies and routinely return to work after parental leave. The argument that they cannot be 'planned around' ignores that businesses routinely plan around vacations, surgeries, family emergencies, and other foreseeable absences for non-pregnant employees. Singling out pregnancy for special suspicion reveals the discriminatory assumption at its core. Under both the Pregnancy Discrimination Act and the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, an employer is legally required to treat pregnancy the same as any other temporary condition that affects work capacity, and must engage in an interactive process to identify reasonable accommodations rather than simply refusing to hire or dismissing the employee.

What the Law Says

Your Legal Foundation

Civil Rights Act of 1964, Title VII, as amended by the Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1978, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e(k)

§ 2000e(k) — Pregnancy Discrimination Act — Definition of Sex

“The terms 'because of sex' or 'on the basis of sex' include, but are not limited to, because of or on the basis of pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions; and 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 provision makes explicit that treating a pregnant worker less favourably than a similarly situated non-pregnant worker constitutes unlawful sex discrimination under Title VII. The employer's statement — that the employee's pregnancy makes her unsuitable for a role she is otherwise qualified for — falls squarely within the conduct this amendment prohibits. The employer must evaluate the applicant's actual abilities, not assumptions based on her pregnancy.

Pregnant Workers Fairness Act of 2023, 42 U.S.C. § 2000gg et seq.

§ 2000gg-1 — Reasonable Accommodations for Pregnant Workers

“It shall be an unlawful employment practice for a covered entity to (1) not make reasonable accommodations to the known limitations related to the pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions of a qualified employee, unless such covered entity can demonstrate that the accommodation would impose an undue hardship on the operation of the business of such covered entity.”

The PWFA, in force since June 2023, requires employers with 15 or more employees to provide reasonable accommodations for pregnancy-related limitations unless doing so would constitute undue hardship. An employer cannot refuse to hire or continue employing a pregnant worker simply because her condition requires some adjustment — the law now requires that the employer first engage in an interactive process to identify workable accommodations.

What Scripture Says

God's Word on This

Psalm 127:3 (NIV)

“Children are a heritage from the Lord, offspring a reward from him.”

Scripture honours the bearing of children as a divine blessing, not a burden or a liability. An employer who treats a woman's pregnancy as a disqualifying condition is, in effect, treating a God-honoured reality as a defect. The woman who carries a child deserves support and just treatment — from her community, her workplace, and the law — not punishment for being in a state that God himself describes as a reward.

Isaiah 49:15 (NIV)

“Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may forget, I will not forget you!”

God's own character is described through the image of a mother's bond with her child — one of the most intimate and sacred relationships in human experience. To penalise a woman economically for being in that relationship is to act against the very image of care and compassion that God holds as foundational. The law, reflecting this moral truth, insists that pregnant workers receive the same dignity and fair treatment as anyone else.

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Common Counter-Arguments

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