Juan Araneda and Jason Geller’s article “Review this Year's Major Employment Cases” was featured in the Daily Journal on December 23, 2015.

In the article, Juan and Jason recap the most notable decisions that impacted employment law in 2015.

Young v. United Parcel Service Inc. (pregnancy discrimination)

An employee sought a light-duty assignment as an accommodation for lifting restrictions resulting from her pregnancy. The employer had a policy of providing employees who suffered on-the-job injuries or were disabled under the Americans with Disabilities Act with light-duty assignments, but it denied the accommodation request because pregnancy did not fit into these categories. The employee sued, arguing the federal Pregnancy Discrimination Act requires employers to provide pregnant employees with light-duty assignments if they provide similar assignments to other employees in other circumstances.

The U.S. Supreme Court said a plaintiff alleging the denial of an accommodation constituted disparate treatment under the PDA may make out a prima facie case through indirect evidence under the McDonnell Douglas burden-shifting framework, by showing that she belongs to the protected class, she sought accommodation, the employer did not accommodate her, and the employer did accommodate others similar in their ability or inability to work. The employer may then show that it denied the accommodation for "legitimate, nondiscriminatory" reasons. The employee then must establish the employer's reason is pretextual.

(Note: California's Fair Employment and Housing Act already requires employers to provide reasonable accommodations to pregnant employees absent undue hardship.)

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