A pregnancy discrimination charge was recently filed against the Port of Seattle after a female longshore worker claimed she was “discriminated against while pregnant.” The woman, who has remained anonymous so far, “is the latest dockworker to claim pregnancy discrimination.” At the time the most recent charge was filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, “six other female workers at various West Coast ports” had also filed pregnancy discrimination charges. The women are being represented by “the American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU of Southern California, the private law firm Outten & Golden and Los Angeles attorney Brenda Feigen.”
A pregnancy discrimination charge was recently filed against the Port of Seattle after a female longshore worker claimed she was “discriminated against while pregnant.” The woman, who has remained anonymous so far, “is the latest dockworker to claim pregnancy discrimination.” At the time the most recent charge was filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, “six other female workers at various West Coast ports” had also filed pregnancy discrimination charges. The women are being represented by “the American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU of Southern California, the private law firm Outten & Golden and Los Angeles attorney Brenda Feigen.”
The recent discrimination charge was filed on Thursday against Pacific Maritime Association. For those who don’t know, Pacific Maritime Association “represents the shipping and terminal companies that operate the 29 ports along the West Coast, from San Diego to Bellingham.” Other defendants named in the charge include:
- The International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU)
- ILWU Local 19
When commenting on the charge, Feigen said that attorneys are currently working with the women and the unions to reach some sort of agreement, but noted that the “women are prepared to file a federal class-action lawsuit if the negotiations don’t pan out.”
So what kind of discrimination did the Seattle woman in the recent complaint endure? Well, according to a press release from the ACLU, the woman was “so fearful of losing work hours during pregnancy and falling behind her co-workers in the queue to gain union entry that she worked up until the night she gave birth prematurely, finishing her shift while leaking amniotic fluid.”
Craig Merrilees, the communications director of the ILWU, pushed back against the claim and said the woman’s charges are “false and repeat identical allegations that the ACLU made in early 2017 concerning Southern California ports, which the industry has responded to and the EEOC has not acted upon.” He added:
“In the Southern California case, the longshore industry gave the EEOC indisputable evidence that, contrary to ACLU claims, the industry treats female workers, who miss work due to pregnancy, exactly the same as workers with injuries or other conditions that prevent them from working. Neither group receives any lost time credit for missing work, just like in all other industries. The only exception is for female and male military veterans who receive lost work credits for military service leaves of absence, as required by federal law, specifically, the Uniform Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act…It’s unfortunate that the ACLU ignored these facts, in what seems like an effort to manufacture public outrage based on misinformation. The ILWU intends to remain focused on the facts, the law, and we will continue treating women and men equally.”
Dockworkers are typically responsible for loading and unloading cargo from ships, “drive utility tractors and regularly operate cranes and other heavy equipment.” According to charges filed by the Seattle woman and other women, the “unions treat workers who miss work due to pregnancy and postpartum care differently than those who miss because of on-the-job injuries and military service, violating the Pregnancy Discrimination Act.” Additionally, “unlike those other workers, pregnant women are not able to apply the time they miss toward the hours required to become full-time members of the union and to attain higher wages,” according to the complaints.
Other complaints mentioned in the charges include allegations that casual dock workers, such as the women filing the charges, are often “unable to request any kind of accommodations while pregnant or soon after having a child, including accommodations for breastfeeding.” For example, the most recent charge claims that a “breastfeeding woman is denied access to a sanitary, private space in which to pump breast milk during her shift — prompting her either to stop breastfeeding long before she may want to or her baby may have received all of the potential health benefits of breast milk, or to forgo working altogether, during which time she does not receive any work hours credit.”
Speaking on behalf of the women filing charges, Feigen said, “We’re trying to be the same as they are. We’re not trying to have special privileges.”
Sources:
Seattle woman is latest West Coast dockworker to claim pregnancy discrimination
U.S. women dockworkers accuse shippers, union of discrimination
Join the conversation!