Is This Pregnancy Discrimination?

My pregnant girl friend was just told at work that because her doctors note says she can not lift over 50 lbs she can not come back to work till she is able to lift 75 lbs. She’s not fired or laid off, technically she will still be an employee, she just wont be getting any money. This sounds like a scam by the company to avoid paying unemployment to me.

Can a company tell a pregnant woman she can’t work with out actually firing or laying her off?

She works for a tire distribution company. She delivers tires to local tire shops like tire kingdom or good year. Some of the big off road tires are very heavy. We live in Florida which is a “right to work” state, meaning they have laws siding with employers more often than employees. They are not offering her another position to accommodate her. They are just telling her to come back to work when she can lift 75lbs again. There is another female that works there who is supposed to do the same job. The other woman is not physically strong enough to lift the heavy tires and they just have other people do it for her. They have not offered that to my gf. If my gf was allowed to work under the same conditions as the other woman, she would have no problem and could continue her job.

First, is this legal? It sounds like discrimination to me.

Second, can she quit because of them basically cutting her hours down to zero and get unemployment? I have heard of people getting their hours cut back and getting partial unemployment.

Any help on this matter would be great. I will rate answers. Thank you.

Answer:  In short, yes, they can do that.  Because of the doctor’s orders, she may be considered temporarily disabled and could be collecting disability until her doctor releases her back to her pre-pregnancy lifting capacity.  Because work will not accommodate her, she can stay at home and collect disability until they do accommodate her or her doctor gives the green light.  Don’t know what the rate is in FL, but it’s based on a percentage of her wages.  She needs to speak with her doctor.  If need be, click here to get a consultation with an employment attorney in her area. 

I know of a woman who was working as a nurse’s aide in a CA school and she had severe migraines, so bad that she was incapacitated and couldn’t work.  She went on disability.  When she got better and wanted to return to work, the school would not take her back, even though she technically was never let go, until her doctor released her to full duty.  So there she sat at home collecting disability, even though she felt she was able to work.  Legally, the school could not fire her because of the disability.

If the other woman is allowed to not lift the heavy tires and your girlfriend is expected to, then yes, there is selective discrimination going on.  Have your girlfriend document that.  She may need the evidence later on should there ever be a pissing match over this. 

But like I said, she should tell her doctor so she can get on disability.