Expert: Liliana Gonzalez - 2/3/2012

Question
I'm a Certified Nurse Aide. I'm 5 months pregnant and the doctor placed me on weight restriction of not lifting no more than 25 lbs. I gave the human resources the note and they told me that they don't do light duty and that being though I wasn't eligible for family leave I was going to have to resign. I asked if there was a way that I could still do my job by having others help me and they told me no. I told them that I would not resign until I spoke to a union rep. I was told that I was unable to come back to work due to the letter. I spoke to a union rep which advised me that they the job does have a right to refuse light duty due to the fact I was not disabled at the job. Two days later I receive a notice from my job stating that I was fired due to the fact that I needed to go on light duty and they don't allow this unless it was work related and I was not there enough time to go on medical leave. Is this discrimination and would I be able to take this into court?

Answer
Anjie:

I am sorry to hear all that has happened with your job while being pregnant. Not knowing all the specifics about your particular job, it is difficult for me to answer your question.

However, I would definitely file a discrimination charge with the Division of Human Rights and or the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. I believe the company should have at least accommodated you temporarily until you had the baby. They could have also given you a leave of absence under FMLA without pay if you don't have enough time there yet. Either way file the charge based on gender, and disability. You should do this as soon as possible. There are time limits associated with the filing.

I am surprised your Union did not give you more support or guidance. Sometimes you can also file a grievance with them. Find out if you can do that as well. You should file internally as well as externally. If the Union doesn't take the complaint, file with Human Resources or their internal EEO office.

Please let me know if you have any other questions or if I can assist you in any other way.

Liliana