Recently, a New York jury in ruled in favor of six female police officers who had alleged that the Suffolk County Police Department (SCPD) discriminated against them when they were pregnant. The monetary awards are small – between $5,000 and $23,000 for each plaintiff – but the vindicated principles are huge. Fair treatment of pregnant workers is an essential component of workplace equality for women.

THE UNFAIR TREATMENT ALLEGED AND PROVEN IN THIS CASE

Prior to 2000, the SCPD had permitted officers with disabilities of any origin to request and obtain so-called light-duty assignments – that is, alternatives to patrol that required less physical exertion and posed less risk of injury. Such assignments included desk jobs, but also positions as academy instructors, drug program instructors, and, perhaps most appealing, beach patrol officers. Many pregnant officers made use of this policy: 45 percent of light-duty assignments awarded to officers injured off duty were given to pregnant women, and 75 percent of the light-duty assignments taken by women because of an off-duty disability were because of pregnancy. These assignments averaged fewer than six months in duration.

But in 2000, the SCPD adopted a new policy that light-duty assignments would only be available to officers who became disabled while on duty. As a result, many pregnant officers were forced to take unpaid leave and to suffer a concomitant loss of benefits, seniority, and opportunities for advancement. In some cases, they ended up using all available sick and vacation time during pregnancy, and then had none left to recover from childbirth.

There was strong evidence in the record that the policy not only had a discriminatory impact but also reflected discriminatory intent. (The plaintiffs sued on both theories.) For instance, plaintiff Sarah MacDermott alleged that she was denied a light-duty assignment while pregnant, even though a male officer who had been injured off duty after the new policy was adopted was given just such an assignment. And Sandra Lochren, who had been working as a drug prevention instructor for four years when she told her supervisor she was pregnant, was transferred to a different precinct and ordered to go on patrol. Moreover, the SCPD did not have, and did not acquire, bulletproof vests that fit most women in the later months of pregnancy. So even if the plaintiffs had wanted to remain on patrol, they would have lacked proper safety precautions.