A home healthcare services company in northwest Pennsylvania violated federal law by firing an employee because she was pregnant and because of her disability, the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) charged in a lawsuit. The EEOC filed the pregnancy and disability discrimination case against Erie-based Heartfelt Home Healthcare Services, Inc. According to the lawsuit, a pregnant scheduling coordinator with hypertension was unlawfully discharged because of those conditions. The company’s president and vice president repeatedly told the pregnant worker that she was a “liability to the company” due to her condition. They ultimately fired her based on her pregnancy and hypertension after she was treated at a hospital for early contractions, despite the fact that she remained qualified to perform her job and was not medically restricted from performing her duties. Such alleged conduct violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended by the Pregnancy Discrimination Act, which prohibits sex discrimination in employment, including on the basis of pregnancy, childbirth, and pregnancy-related medical conditions. The conduct also violates Title I of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), which prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability, including pregnancy-related disabilities.
