New York Lawyer for Pregnancy Discrimination in the Food Services Industry

Employment Law Attorneys Assisting New York City Residents

When you are pregnant and you work in the food services industry, you cannot afford to lose your job, take a less busy shift, or miss out on a promotion. Unfortunately, pregnancy can come with complications or medical conditions that necessitate alterations to your schedule, such as light duty or leave. The New York food services industry is competitive, and in some cases, restaurants and others in the industry violate the law and take adverse actions against pregnant workers in the food services industry in order to save money. At Phillips & Associates, our New York City pregnancy discrimination lawyers provide aggressive legal representation to people who have been subjected to improper treatment by their employers.

Pregnancy Discrimination in the Food Services Industry

Pregnancy discrimination arises if an employer takes an adverse action based on an employee's pregnancy, childbirth, or medical condition related to pregnancy or childbirth. Some disabling pregnancy-related medical conditions include preeclampsia, gestational diabetes, and hyperemesis gravidarum. Under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), you are entitled to a reasonable accommodation, and your employer is required to give you the same treatment and benefits it gives to other employees with temporary disabilities. Under New York law, you have even more protection. It is an unlawful discriminatory practice for an employer to deny a pregnant employee a reasonable accommodation unless the accommodation would cause it an undue hardship.

An employer's decision to force a pregnant woman to take time off, to fire or demote a pregnant employee, to refuse to hire a pregnant worker, or to deny leave or a reasonable accommodation are all forms of pregnancy discrimination. For example, if you tell your boss you are pregnant, and you are fired even though you can work, this is pregnancy discrimination. Similarly, if you stock the kitchen, and you ask your boss if you can stop lifting heavy boxes until after you give birth, but your boss tells you to do it or else be fired, this is pregnancy discrimination. If you are disciplined for taking time off to go to the doctor for prenatal checkups, this is also pregnancy discrimination.

Under the Family Medical Leave Act, employees who have been working for at least one year for a covered employer with 50 or more employees are entitled to 12 weeks of unpaid leave to recover from pregnancy or care for a newborn, among other things. Your job is supposed to be protected during this time, and your health benefits should be maintained. When you come back to work, you are supposed to be given your old job back, or you should be given another job that has equal pay, benefits, and terms.

Consult a New York City Lawyer for a Pregnancy Discrimination Claim

You should not need to put up with pregnancy discrimination in the food services industry. At Phillips & Associates, our New York City pregnancy discrimination attorneys provide tenacious legal representation for employees who have suffered harm as a result of discrimination or who need accommodations. Contact us at (866) 229-9441 or online to set up a free appointment. We represent workers in the Bronx, Queens, Brooklyn, Manhattan, Staten Island, Long Island and Westchester who need a gender discrimination or sexual harassment attorney.