New Guidance From The EEOC Requires Employers To Provide Reasonable Accommodations Under The Pregnancy Discrimination Act

Today, without the fanfare of a public meeting, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission published Guidance on its website addressing the treatment of pregnancy under Title VII. Once again, it appears as if the EEOC adopted a position exceeding the statutory mandate that Congress bestowed upon it. Requiring employers to provide a reasonable accommodation under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 for all pregnant employees finds no statutory basis in the text of Title VII, the Americans With Disabilities Act, as amended, or the Pregnancy Discrimination Act (the “PDA”). Indeed, the overwhelming majority of the Circuit Courts of Appeals that have reviewed the issue have held that the PDA does not include a reasonable accommodation requirement.  Despite that, a majority of the EEOC’s Commissioners determined otherwise. Commissioners Barker and Lipnic both issued statements – immediately after the EEOC posted the Guidance on its website – questioning the wisdom of the majority’s actions on procedural and substantive grounds, each recognizing that in adopting the new Guidance, the Commission sought to legislate changes to, rather than interpret, Title VII.

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