No Claim For Pregnancy-Based Discrimination When Worker Fired For Pregnancy-Related Absences
July 1, 2000
Marilyn J. Holifield- Miami
No violation of the Pregnancy Discrimination
Act (PDA) occurs when an employer fires a pregnant employee for excessive
absences, even if those absences were the result of the pregnancy — unless
the employer overlooks the comparable absences of nonpregnant employees.
Under the PDA, the prohibition against sex-based employment discrimination in
Title VII applies with equal force to discrimination on the basis of
pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions. And, the same
analysis used in other Title VII sex discrimination lawsuits is required for a
pregnancy discrimination claim.
In Armindo v. Padlocker, Inc. (11th Cir. April
20, 2000), Padlocker fired Carine Armindo, an entry level clerical employee,
after she had missed six days of work during her three months of probationary
employment. Armindo’s pregnancy-related illnesses caused five of the
absences, and car trouble caused one. She also missed work for
pregnancy-related reasons by arriving late or leaving early on nine other
occasions during her probationary period. Padlocker’s employee manual,
however, permitted employees to receive sick days off from work only after
they had successfully completed their initial three-month term of employment,
which Armindo had not done. Armindo’s absences and other missed time
from work occurred before she completed her probationary term making her
ineligible to receive sick days off from work.
Adhering to precedent, the Eleventh Circuit
Court of Appeals concluded that the PDA did not require Padlocker to treat
Armindo, who had missed work because of her pregnancy, with greater favor than
a nonpregnant employee who missed work on account of a different medical
condition.
In affirming summary judgment for Padlocker
the Eleventh Circuit noted, “while the PDA requires the employer to ignore
the pregnancy, the employer need not ignore absences, unless the employer
likewise ignores the absences of nonpregnant employees.”
For more information please contact Marilyn J.
Holifield at 1-888-688-8500 or at mholifie@hklaw.com.
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