Brenda Feis Quoted in Inside Counsel

An article in the August issue of Inside Counsel notes the issues of pregnancy discrimination versus equal treatment for all employees. Brenda Feis is quoted on a decision (Reeves v. Swift Transportation) in which an employer was permitted to deny “light duty” to a pregnant woman and terminated her soon thereafter. When that employee filed suit claiming the company had violated the Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1978 (PDA), the District Court for the Western District of Tennessee disagreed and granted summary judgment to Swift Transportation. In May, the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the lower court’s ruling.

“This case was a slam-dunk winner,” says Brenda Feis, partner in Seyfarth Shaw’s Chicago office. “It is well established that the PDA does not create preferential rights for pregnant employees.” …“It is up to employers to decide how liberal they want to be on light duty,” Feis says. “If they do have a light duty policy, it should apply across the board to pregnant and similarly situated non-pregnant employees.”