At Greenberg Gross LLP, our San Francisco pregnancy discrimination lawyers represent employees who experience unlawful treatment because of pregnancy, childbirth, related medical conditions, or the exercise of protected workplace rights.
Our attorneys investigate discriminatory employment decisions, accommodation disputes, pregnancy-related leave issues, retaliation, and changes in workplace treatment that occur after an employer learns an employee is pregnant.
Pregnancy should not cause an employee's qualifications, performance record, or career opportunities to be viewed differently. When an employer begins questioning an employee's commitment, limits advancement opportunities, refuses legally required accommodations, or takes adverse action connected to pregnancy or protected leave, our San Francisco pregnancy discrimination attorneys can determine which California and federal protections apply and fight for your rights.
Start your journey towards justice today by scheduling your free claim consultation
Table of contents
- What Is Pregnancy Discrimination?
- What Does Pregnancy Discrimination Look Like at Work?
- What Changed After Your Employer Learned You Were Pregnant?
- Employers Should Not Make Career Decisions Based on Assumptions About Pregnancy
- What Pregnancy Accommodations May Be Available?
- What Is California Pregnancy Disability Leave?
- How Do PDL, CFRA, and FMLA Work Together?
- Can Pregnancy and Disability Protections Overlap?
- Can Your Employer Deny You a Promotion Because You Are Going on Maternity Leave?
- What If Your Employer Says It Was “Trying to Help”?
- What If Your Job Changes After Pregnancy Leave?
- Can an Employer Retaliate Against You for Requesting Pregnancy Accommodations?
- How Our Attorneys Build Pregnancy Discrimination Claims
- How Long Do You Have to File a Pregnancy Discrimination Claim?
- Frequently Asked Questions About San Francisco Pregnancy Discrimination Claims
- Speak With the San Francisco Pregnancy Discrimination Lawyers at Greenberg Gross LLP Today
What Is Pregnancy Discrimination?
Pregnancy discrimination occurs when an employer treats an employee or applicant unfavorably because of pregnancy, childbirth, or a related medical condition in violation of applicable employment law. It can affect hiring, pay, assignments, promotions, benefits, hours, leave, or termination. Several laws can protect pregnant employees in San Francisco.
California's Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) prohibits covered employers from engaging in unlawful discrimination based on sex, which includes pregnancy, childbirth, breastfeeding, and related medical conditions. California law also provides pregnancy-related accommodation and leave protections.
At the federal level, the Pregnancy Discrimination Act (PDA) amended Title VII of the Civil Rights Act to make clear that discrimination because of pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions constitutes sex discrimination. Title VII generally applies to employers with at least 15 employees.
The federal Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA) provides additional accommodation protections. It generally requires covered employers to provide reasonable accommodations for known limitations related to pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions unless doing so would impose an undue hardship.
What Does Pregnancy Discrimination Look Like at Work?
Pregnancy discrimination can involve obvious adverse actions or more subtle changes in how an employee is treated. Depending on the circumstances, unlawful conduct can include:
- Refusing to hire or promote someone because of pregnancy;
- Reducing responsibilities, hours, or opportunities after learning an employee is pregnant;
- Making employment decisions based on assumptions about a pregnant employee's abilities or future availability;
- Denying legally required pregnancy-related accommodations;
- Imposing unequal discipline or performance standards;
- Terminating an employee because of pregnancy or a related medical condition; or
- Retaliating against an employee for asserting protected pregnancy-related rights.
An unfavorable decision that happens during pregnancy is not automatically discriminatory. Our lawyers investigate whether pregnancy or another protected activity influenced the decision and whether the employer's explanation is consistent with the underlying evidence.
What Changed After Your Employer Learned You Were Pregnant?
Pregnancy discrimination cases can depend on a critical dividing point: how was the employee treated before the employer knew about the pregnancy, and what happened afterward?
Before disclosing a pregnancy, an employee may have strong performance evaluations, significant responsibilities, positive discussions about advancement, and no documented work concerns. After the disclosure, the employee may suddenly encounter increased scrutiny, reduced assignments, questions about availability, postponed advancement, or criticism that did not previously appear in the employment record.
That sequence alone does not prove discrimination. Circumstances can legitimately change. But the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) recognizes that close timing between an adverse action and a decision-maker learning about a pregnancy can be relevant evidence when evaluating discriminatory motive.
If your opportunities or treatment at work changed after you disclosed your pregnancy, call us at (415) 426-6366. One of our San Francisco pregnancy discrimination lawyers can review the chronology and explain the legal protections that may apply.
Employers Should Not Make Career Decisions Based on Assumptions About Pregnancy
Some discriminatory decisions are presented as concern for the employee rather than hostility toward pregnancy. A manager might assume that a pregnant employee will no longer want to travel, will prefer less demanding work, will not be interested in a promotion, or will be less committed to her career after having a child. An employer may even describe their actions as an effort to "help."
Pregnancy-based assumptions can still create legal problems when they influence employment decisions. Federal guidance makes clear that an employer cannot deny opportunities based on pregnancy and cannot remove an employee from work merely because it believes working could pose a risk to the employee or pregnancy.
Employers should evaluate employees based on their qualifications, performance, expressed preferences, and ability to perform the job—not generalized ideas about what pregnant employees or new parents will want.
What Pregnancy Accommodations May Be Available?
Pregnant employees may have accommodation rights under both California and federal law. California FEHA provides protections for employees affected by pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions. Depending on the circumstances, reasonable accommodations can involve changes to job duties or workplace practices that allow the employee to continue working safely.
The federal PWFA separately requires covered employers to reasonably accommodate a qualified employee's known limitations related to pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions unless the accommodation would impose an undue hardship.
Depending on the employee's needs and applicable law, accommodations may include schedule adjustments, additional breaks, changes to physical tasks, temporary workplace modifications, time away for medical appointments, or other effective measures. Importantly, the PWFA generally prohibits covered employers from requiring a qualified employee to take leave when another reasonable accommodation would allow the employee to continue working without undue hardship.
What Is California Pregnancy Disability Leave?
California Pregnancy Disability Leave (PDL) provides job-protected leave for qualifying employees who are disabled by pregnancy, childbirth, or a related medical condition. PDL generally applies when an employer has five or more employees.
A qualifying employee can receive up to four months of leave per pregnancy, based on the period during which the employee is actually disabled by pregnancy, childbirth, or a related medical condition.
Unlike some other family and medical leave protections, PDL does not require an employee to first accumulate a particular number of hours or months of service before becoming eligible. Pregnancy disability leave can potentially be taken before or after childbirth when the employee is medically disabled by pregnancy or a related condition. Depending on the circumstances, leave may also be taken intermittently or through a reduced schedule rather than as one continuous absence.
How Do PDL, CFRA, and FMLA Work Together?
California employees can have rights under several leave laws, and those protections do not always run concurrently.
- Pregnancy Disability Leave (PDL) addresses periods when an employee is disabled by pregnancy, childbirth, or a related medical condition.
- The federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) can provide eligible employees with job-protected leave for qualifying medical and family reasons. When both laws apply, FMLA leave can run concurrently with PDL in qualifying circumstances.
- The California Family Rights Act (CFRA) provides separate family and medical leave protections. Pregnancy disability itself is treated differently under CFRA, which means an eligible employee may potentially use CFRA leave for bonding with a new child after pregnancy disability leave ends.
The result is that calculating pregnancy and parental leave can be more complicated than simply determining whether an employee has used 12 weeks of time off.
If your employer has denied leave or told you that you have exhausted all pregnancy-related protections, contact Greenberg Gross LLP at (415) 426-6366. Our attorneys can evaluate which California and federal leave laws apply to your circumstances.
Can Pregnancy and Disability Protections Overlap?
Yes. Pregnancy itself is not considered a disability under the federal Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA), but some pregnancy-related medical conditions can qualify as disabilities. The EEOC specifically recognizes that pregnancy-related impairments can trigger ADA protections when the statutory requirements are satisfied.
California employees may also have overlapping rights under FEHA depending on their medical condition and limitations. Because different accommodation requirements can apply simultaneously, if you are dealing with significant pregnancy-related medical limitations, our team can explain more about your disability discrimination and accommodation rights in San Francisco.
Can Your Employer Deny You a Promotion Because You Are Going on Maternity Leave?
An employer cannot lawfully deny an employment opportunity because of pregnancy or protected pregnancy-related characteristics. Federal pregnancy discrimination protections extend to promotions, assignments, pay, and other terms and conditions of employment.
A promotion denial during pregnancy is not automatically discriminatory. The employer may have legitimate reasons for selecting another candidate.
Our attorneys can investigate the candidates' qualifications, the criteria established before the decision, the timing, the decision-maker's communications, and the explanations provided for the selection. Particular scrutiny may be appropriate when an employee was previously considered a strong candidate but advancement abruptly disappeared after the employer learned about the pregnancy.
Our San Francisco disability discrimination lawyers and gender discrimination lawyers can also explain how federal and state laws apply to the broader relationship between pregnancy, discrimination, and sex-based employment decisions.
What If Your Employer Says It Was “Trying to Help”?
A decision does not necessarily become lawful because an employer describes its motivation as supportive. Statements such as "we thought you would want less responsibility," "we didn't want to burden you," or "we assumed you wouldn't want to travel" can reveal that pregnancy or anticipated parenthood influenced a workplace decision.
The employee generally should not lose career opportunities because an employer made assumptions about what the employee would prefer. Our lawyers examine whether these “helpful changes” were requested, whether comparable employees retained similar opportunities, and whether the employee's own expressed preferences were disregarded.
That distinction can matter when determining whether an employer genuinely accommodated an employee's needs or instead made unwanted career decisions based on pregnancy.
What If Your Job Changes After Pregnancy Leave?
Returning from pregnancy-related leave does not necessarily mean returning to a workplace that looks exactly as it did before the absence. Legitimate business changes can occur while an employee is away.
Legal concerns can arise, however, when an employee returns to reduced responsibilities, diminished opportunities, lower compensation, or another unfavorable change because of pregnancy or the exercise of protected leave rights. We can compare the employee's role before and after leave, examine when changes were planned, and determine whether the employer's explanation is supported by its records.
If the job you returned to is materially different from the one you left, call our team at (415) 426-6366 to discuss the circumstances with one of our San Francisco pregnancy discrimination attorneys.
Can an Employer Retaliate Against You for Requesting Pregnancy Accommodations?
California and federal laws prohibit certain forms of retaliation against employees for exercising protected pregnancy-related rights. Depending on the circumstances, protected activity can include requesting an accommodation, taking qualifying leave, or complaining about pregnancy discrimination.
When discipline, reduced opportunities, demotion, or termination follows protected activity, our lawyers examine the timing, decision-makers' knowledge, and evidence supporting the employer's stated reason.
How Our Attorneys Build Pregnancy Discrimination Claims
Pregnancy discrimination cases frequently require our attorneys to analyze several parts of the employment record. We may review performance evaluations, accommodation and leave communications, medical restrictions, assignment histories, promotion materials, disciplinary records, HR complaints, and internal communications.
Different evidence answers different questions. Medical documentation may establish the need for an accommodation, while emails, comparative evidence, or the timing of employment decisions may help determine whether pregnancy influenced the employer's treatment of the employee.
Employees should preserve relevant materials they are lawfully entitled to possess without accessing restricted systems or taking confidential employer documents without authorization.
How Long Do You Have to File a Pregnancy Discrimination Claim?
Claims under California's FEHA generally require filing an administrative complaint with the California Civil Rights Department (CRD) before an employee may pursue a civil lawsuit. In most cases, that complaint must be filed within three years of the alleged unlawful practice.
Federal pregnancy discrimination and PWFA claims involve separate procedures through the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and different filing deadlines. Because overlapping laws may apply, employees should seek legal advice promptly rather than assume a single deadline governs all claims.
Start your journey towards justice today by scheduling your free claim consultation
Frequently Asked Questions About San Francisco Pregnancy Discrimination Claims
Do I have to tell my employer I am pregnant?
Employees are not generally required to disclose a pregnancy simply because they are pregnant. Disclosure can become necessary, however, when an employee seeks an accommodation or leave that requires the employer to understand the reason for the request.
Can my employer require medical documentation for a pregnancy accommodation?
Appropriate documentation can be requested in some circumstances, but the rules depend on the protection involved. Employers do not have unlimited authority to demand medical information.
Can I take pregnancy disability leave before giving birth?
Yes. California PDL can apply before childbirth when an employee is actually disabled by pregnancy or a related medical condition and the applicable requirements are satisfied.
What if my position is eliminated while I am on maternity leave?
Protected leave does not make an employee immune from legitimate business decisions that would have occurred regardless of the leave. An employer cannot, however, eliminate a position because of pregnancy or protected leave. Our attorneys can investigate when and why the decision was made.
Speak With the San Francisco Pregnancy Discrimination Lawyers at Greenberg Gross LLP Today
Your career record should not be impacted when you announce a pregnancy, request an accommodation, or take protected leave. If your employer suddenly views your performance, availability, or professional future differently, the reason for that change deserves careful examination.
Our San Francisco pregnancy discrimination lawyers evaluate those decisions, identify the protections that apply, and prepare solid discrimination claims for litigation when legal action is warranted.
Call Greenberg Gross LLP at (415) 426-6366 or contact us online to schedule a confidential consultation with a San Francisco pregnancy discrimination lawyer today to learn more about your rights and options.