Young Vs. United Parcel Service

Young vs. United Parcel Service

In 2006, Peggy Young was working for the United Parcel Service when she requested a leave to undergo in vitro fertilization and soon after became pregnant. Due to her pregnancy and the decisions made by UPS, Young was eventually forced to take an extended unpaid leave of absence. This is where the question of whether or not an employer is required to offer the same accommodations for an employee with pregnancy related limitations as those with similar but non-pregnant work limitations stems. The Pregnancy Discrimination Act states that discrimination on the basis of child birth, pregnancy, or related medical condition constitutes as unlawful sex discrimination. In this case, Young should have been given work accommodations during the time she was on leave because under the PDA she was a victim of gender and disability discrimination, should have been given equal treatment as those with similar disabilities, and because she was denied job accommodations that would have allowed her to continue work.

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 doesn’t allow a covered employer to discriminate against any individual regarding the terms, conditions, or privileges of employment, because of such individual’s sex. In 1978, Congress passed the Pregnancy Discrimination Act, which added additional ideas to Title VII’s definitions subsection. The first clause of the 1978 Act states that Title VII’s “term ‘because of sex’ includes reasons because of or on the basis of pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions.” The second clause says that “women affected by pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions shall be treated the same for all employment-related purposes as other persons not so affected but similar in their ability or inability to work” (Young, NA). By definition, discrimination is treatment or consideration of, or making a distinction against a person or thing based on the group, class, or category to which

that person or thing is perceived to belong to. Based on those terms, UPS denying Young job accommodations due to her pregnancy was an act of discrimination, regardless of intent.

The Pregnancy Discrimination Act states prohibition against sex discrimination applies to discrimination “because of or on the basis of pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions,” and that employers must treat “women affected by pregnancy . . . the same for all employment-related purposes . . . as other persons not so affected but similar in their ability or inability to work”(Pregnancy, 1). Peggy Young, worked as a part-time driver for the United Parcel Service. Her job required pickup and delivery of packages that had arrived by air carrier the previous night. After taking a leave to undergo in vitro fertilization she became pregnant. Her doctor told her that she should not lift more than 20 pounds during the first 20 weeks of her pregnancy or more than 10 pounds afterwards. UPS required drivers like Young to be able to lift parcels weighing