CONTACT: Meredith Curtis, Communications Director, 410-889-8555; media@aclu-md.org
Joanna Diamond, Public Policy Associate, diamond@aclu-md.org
ANNAPOLIS - The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Maryland lauded the Maryland State Senate for yesterday voting to approve Senate Bill 784, which would protect pregnant women from discrimination in the workplace. The bill was approved by the Senate by a vote of 30-16 and will now advance to the House of Delegates, where the cross-filed House Bill 804 has already passed.
SB 784 addresses the pressing problem where pregnant employees are forced into unpaid leave or fired when employers refuse to offer them the same modest and temporary modifications to physical job requirements they offer other employees with similar restrictions. The ACLU strongly supported SB 784 because of this gap in the current discrimination law. SB 784 clarifies and explains employers' obligations to provide the same treatment to pregnant employees that is provided to other employees who have temporary physical restrictions.
The following may be attributed to Joanna Diamond, Public Policy Associate, ACLU of Maryland:
"Thanks to the Senate, the minor changes in this legislation will make vast improvements in the lives of women and their families. Pregnant women will no longer have to jump through unnecessary hoops in order to be treated equally in the workplace."
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