A nursing home, rehabilitation center, and long-term residential care facility in Joliet, Ill., violated federal civil rights laws by disadvantaging pregnant employees in various ways, the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) charged in a lawsuit. Julianne Bowman, the district director of the EEOC’s office in Chicago, said that the EEOC’s pre-suit investigation revealed that the facility had a written policy that required pregnant women to disclose their pregnancies. There was no similar written policy requiring other, non-pregnant employees to disclose medical information. Further, pregnant employees were forced to get doctor’s notes indicating that they could work without restrictions, even if they were not asking for an accommodation. Pregnant employees who did have restrictions and who had not worked at the facility for a year were fired, and then categorized as ineligible for rehire.
