Young v. United Parcel Service, Inc.
Issues
Does the Pregnancy Discrimination Act require employers who accommodate certain non-pregnant workers with work limitations to similarly accommodate pregnant workers?
The Supreme Court will have the opportunity to decide whether the Pregnancy Discrimination Act (“PDA”) requires employers who accommodate certain working limitations of non-pregnant workers to similarly accommodate pregnant workers. Young contends the PDA mandates that an employer must provide pregnant employees with the same accommodations that non-pregnant employees receive when non-pregnant employees are disabled or injured on-the-job. UPS, however, argues that the PDA requires no such accommodations. Additionally, while Young argues that UPS’s actions still constitute pregnancy discrimination under the McDonnell Douglas burden-shifting analysis, UPS maintains that its actions do not constitute pregnancy discrimination under the McDonnell Douglas test. The Supreme Court’s decision will likely impact the safeguards provided to women in the workplace and the efficiency of American businesses in providing such safeguards.
Questions as Framed for the Court by the Parties
Whether, and in what circumstances, the Pregnancy Discrimination Act, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e(k), requires an employer that provides work accommodations to non-pregnant employees with work limitations to provide work accommodations to pregnant employees who are “similar in their ability or inability to work.”
In 1999, Respondent United Parcel Service, Inc. (“UPS”) hired Petitioner Peggy Sue Young. Young v. United Parcel Service, Inc., 707 F.3d 437, 440. In 2002, Young started driving UPS’s delivery trucks.
Edited by
Additional Resources
- Scott Flaherty: Biz Groups Back UPS in Pregnancy Accommodation Case, Law360 (Nov. 4, 2014).
- Brigid Schulte: Lawmakers, civil rights leaders tell Supreme Court to support pregnant workers, Washington Post (Sept. 11, 2014).
- Debra Cassens Weiss: UPS driver’s pregnancy-bias case to get SCOTUS review, ABA Journal (July 3, 2014).