Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as
amended by the Pregnancy Discrimination Act,
prohibits workplace discrimination based on
pregnancy and requires employers to treat
pregnant workers the same as others who are
similar in their ability to work.
“I was ready and willing to keep working
throughout my pregnancy to provide for my
family,” said Julie Desantis-Mayer, who has been
with UPS for 10 years and works as a full-time
package driver. “I would have been treated
better had I lost my license. I’m a good worker
who just wanted to take care of myself and my
child. Instead I lost my income and my health
insurance.”
Desantis-Mayer routinely lifts packages up to 70
pounds without assistance, working up to 14-hour
days. She is the only female driver in her
center at the Farmingville UPS facility in Long
Island. When she told her supervisor in March
2012 that she was pregnant, she was asked if she
expected “special treatment.”
In April, when she was eight weeks pregnant,
Desantis-Mayer’s doctor recommended that she
lift no more than 25 pounds for the duration of
her pregnancy. Desantis-Mayer offered to do
light duty at a desk job or delivering air
packages, which were lighter than those on her
usual route. She had been accommodated like this
before when she pulled a muscle on the job.
Instead, she was told this was different and was
forced to take unpaid leave.
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