Practice Areas

Pregnant employees have the right to reasonable accomodations for any pregnancy related condition.  Accomodations may include additional bathroom breaks, the ability to drink water, attend medical appointments, be transfered to light duty, or not work hazardous duties.  Pregnant employees have the right to be free of discrimination because of their pregnancy status during hiring or as an employee. Pregnant employees also cannot be retaliated against for complaining of pregnancy discrimination or requesting pregnancy-related accomodations.

Parental leave is available for employees welcoming a new baby, whether as an adoptive or birth family.   Various state and federal leave laws, including New York's Paid Leave Law,  as well as private employer policies, can make planning your parental leave confusing. Make sure you are afforded the correct leave and have a plan in place to return to work.

Employers must engage in an interactive process with a disabled employee who approaches them for an accomodation, and accomodate the employee unless it poses an undue hardship to the employer.  This includes mental health conditions such as depression, anxiety, and PTSD.  Further, the disability does not need to be permanent to qualify for a reasonable accomodation, so for example, post-partum depression can be accomodated by employers.      

Caregiving and family responsibilities discrimination occurs when an employer penalizes an employee for their caretaking responsibilities, or treats the caretaking employee differently than other employees needing time off for different reasons.  Family responsibility discrimination also occurs when, for example, an employer allows a mother to leave early to pick up her kid from school, but not a father.