States act on pregnancy discrimination
A principal catalyst is the Supreme Court’s 2015 decision in Young v. United Parcel Service, which ruled in favor of a pregnant UPS worker whose doctor-sanctioned request to carry lighter loads was ignored. The ruling was framed narrowly: Peggy Young prevailed only because she was able to identify other workers granted temporary relief from carrying heavy loads for medical reasons other than pregnancy. “Since the Peggy Young case,” said Emily Martin, general counsel at the National Women’s Law Center, “we’ve seen even more bipartisan support for the notion that pregnant workers … should be entitled to very reasonable accommodations at work.” Martin sees “really strong momentum in the states for passing legislation” that addresses pregnant women’s needs “explicitly.”