Attorney: Pregnancy Related Discrimination Cases On The Rise
By Hadas Kuznits
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - With more and more women becoming the primary breadwinner in their families, it is important to know how the workplace is addressing issues of the family, like pregnancy.
Amal Bass, staff attorney at the Women's Law Project in Philadelphia, says there's been an uptick in pregnancy-related discrimination cases at work.
"We do receive more calls now than we did a couple of years ago related to pregnancy discrimination in the workplace," Bass explains.
Reporter: "And is that because there's more discrimination or are there more women working?"
Bass: "I think that in a bad economy there are a whole range of reasons that this happens and I think both are happening."
Reporter: "What constitutes discrimination?"
Bass: "If they get demoted, if they are denied an accommodation, if they don't get a pay raise that other people get or if they are terminated from their employment."
Reporter: "What do women need to know when they become pregnant in the workplace?"
Bass: "They need to know what their policies are!"
Bass says there are many organizations, including hers, that specialize in these sorts of cases.
"If you think that you have suffered some form of discrimination, that what happened to you is unfair, you have a certain amount of time to file a charge," she explains.
