Why Is Pregnancy Discrimination on the Rise?

When I was pregnant with my third child, a senior executive turned to me, clearly niggled, and said, “You’re not pregnant, are you?” I hadn’t told my employer of my pregnancy and was at a loss as to how to respond. We were a startup, and a lot was at stake at that stage of our development. No one, particularly this executive, wanted to hear of yet another development that might impact our company’s push toward success.

Fortunately, another colleague, a 30-something bachelor, stepped in. “What are you talking about?” he asked. “She looks the same.” The executive, a father to four, knew better; he’d noticed the extra weight below my jawline and my sudden lack of waist. But sensing he was on sensitive ground, he recanted, returning the conversation to work.

It’s odd that pregnancy is still such a delicate issue, fraught with so much defensiveness and concern. Getting pregnant is not some new workplace phenomenon. (Nor, for that matter, are women.)

Still, discrimination (or the reporting of it) is on the rise. According to a statistic reported in an MSNBC article, pregnancy discrimination charges filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), state and local agencies jumped nearly 19 percent to a record 4,901 last year, from 3,977 in 1997. And according to this article and others, those numbers have been rising for a good half-dozen years, particularly among high-level executive women.

Under the Pregnancy Discrimination Act, an amendment to Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, women affected by pregnancy or related conditions must be treated in the same manner as other applicants or employees with similar abilities or limitations. Women can’t be fired for being pregnant. Nor can they be demoted. And, if they’re eligible under the Family Medical Leave Act, they’re entitled to time off.

But pregnancy can be unpredictable, as can time off. I’ve known mothers who have opted to take longer leaves than anticipated, leaving employers feeling disgruntled in their absence, and employers who’ve shifted job responsibilities and organizational charts, leaving mothers feeling disgruntled on their return.

What I don’t understand is why we still can’t seem to cope with pregnancy at work. If the lawsuits are anything to go by, we’re getting worse rather than better at handling it. Yes, the amount of leave taken may vary, but what is predictable in life? In fact, if one thing is predictable, it is that women get pregnant and men, let’s not forget, get them that way.

Check out these related results:

• From the Monster Blog: “Too Old to Parent, Too Old to Work?”
• “Pregnancy and Your Job”
• “Prepare Early for Maternity Leave”

Related blogs:

• Spot the bump: is pregnancy the last TV taboo?
• Pregnancy discrimination on the rise

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