Reproductive Rights in the Workplace, Notions of Equality, and Federal Litigation

Abstract

Part of a larger book project, Pregnancy and the American Worker, coauthored with James Dahl (Associate Dean, College of Business, University of Illinois — Champaign) and forthcoming from Palgrave, this paper examines the impact and implications of the two primary forms of statutory protection from pregnancy discrimination in the workplace — Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA). Reflecting two different understandings of the nature of equality, these statutes provide different forms of guarantees of equality, which result in differing decisions and precedents in the federal courts. This paper will examine both the theoretical differences between the two approaches and the consequences of these two approaches in federal litigation. Finally, this paper will consider who brings such pregnancy cases before the Court.

Keywords: pregnacy discrimination, equality, lower federal courts, ADA, PDA, Title VII