Light Duty Work for Pregnant Employees

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission recently settled a lawsuit against a medical transportation company named American Medical Response Ambulance Service, Inc., in which the EEOC had claimed that AMRAS had discriminated against one of its employees because of her pregnancy.  The EEOC’s lawsuit alleged that one of AMRAS’s paramedics requested a reasonable light duty accommodation near the last stages of her pregnancy.  The employee submitted a doctor’s note as part of her request for this light duty work.  Despite the reasonable request, AMRAS denied her light duty.  In comparison, for other employees, AMRAS permitted light duty accommodations when these employees had been injured on the job.  Instead, AMRAS insisted that the paramedic could either work without any restrictions or take an unpaid leave.  This alleged conduct is a violation of the Pregnancy Discrimination Act.  When companies provide light duty accommodations to employees who are injured on the job, then it must maintain consistency in that policy with pregnant employees who request the same accommodation.  See EEOC v. American Medical Response Ambulance Service, Inc., No. 2:19-CV-258 (E.D. Wash.).