According to an Equal employment Opportunity Commission charges, Motherhood Maternity, a Philadelphia-based maternity clothes retailer, refused to hire pregnant applicants and fired an assistant manager for complaining.  See, http://www.eeoc.gov/press/1-8-07.html , 1/8/07.  According to the EEOC, the company employs over 5,000 people and is a leading designer, manufacturer and retailer of maternity fashion in the United States.  Id.  In the lawsuit, the EEOC alleged that a former assistant manager who complained about the company’s policy and practice of discrimination against pregnant applicants was fired.  Id.  The EEOC is responsible for the enforcement of the nation’s laws prohibiting discrimination.

The United States Department of Labor website section dealing with the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) reports that the FMLA provides that eligible employees of covered employers have a right to take up to 12 weeks of job protected leave in any 12 month period for qualifying events without interference or restraint from their employers.  See, http://www.dol.gov/compliance/guide/fmla.htm#EmplRights .  The same website section says that the FMLA also gives employees the right to file a complaint with the Wage and Hour Division of the Department of Labor’s Employment Standards Administration, file a private lawsuit under the Act (or cause a complaint or lawsuit to be filed), and testify or cooperate in other ways with an investigation or lawsuit without being fired or discriminated against in any other manner.  Id.  Where a lawsuit is filed in the courts to resolve the alleged violation of the Act, there is no requirement that the Secretary of Labor be notified before the filing of such a lawsuit, according to the U.S. Labor Department.  See, http://www.dol.gov/elaws/esa/fmla/fc4.asp .  In addition to a damages judgment an employee may recover from the employer, the prevailing employee may recover reasonable attorney fees, reasonable expert witness fees and other costs of the action.  Id.  It is illegal for an employer to, for example, sanction a woman in any way when she becomes pregnant if she is a covered employee under the Act.  In this regard, demotions, adverse work assignments, termination and harassment are potential illegal activities.  In some situations, covered employers try to get around the protections of the FMLA by firing or sanctioning the employee for reasons that are made up and simply untrue.  As such, victims of employer retaliation can file medical leave and pregnancy discrimination lawsuits, so workers who feel they have been subjected to medical leave retaliation or discrimination can contact a discrimination attorney to explore their options and whether they wish to file a lawsuit for discrimination or retaliation.

Signed into law on February 5, 1993, the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) allows elegible employees up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave for a serious illness, to care for a seriously ill family member or to care for a new child, but the law covers employers with 50 or more workers and does not cover domestic partners, so a lot of working families are left without FMLA protection.  See, http://www.southcoasttoday.com , 1/31/08.  According to an article posted by SouthCoastToday.com, the Family Medical Leave Act has helped more than 50 million workers.  Id.  Citing statistics from the Labor Department, the article also states that half the workers who took leave for reasons of illness missed only 10 days of work or less.  Id.  However, “lobbyists for the business sector have been looking to weaken the law,” and “[t]he U.S. Chamber of Commerce and other trade associations are urging the Bush administration to chip away at the law before the president leaves office.”  Id.  While some employers allege widespread abuse of the act, the accusations are, according to the article, unfounded.  Id.  In this regard, if companies were actually serious about preventing or stopping alleged fraud, “they could simply require workers to submit a physician’s signature, as many businesses already do.”  Id.  The article concludes by calling on the next president to strengthen rather than cripple the FMLA since, after 15 years, “it has proven to be a lifeline to American workers and their families.”  Id.  Workers who believe they have been retaliated against for making use of the FMLA and workers who believe they have suffered dscrimination can contact attorneys to discuss their rights and whether an FMLA lawsuit or administrative complaint should be pursued.