Looming pregnant-worker rule changes poised to curb accommodations
EEOC plans big changes to pregnant workers’ accommodation rules
The agency’s conservative stance could affect ongoing cases
EEOC says pregnancy discrimination and harassment still top priority
WASHINGTON, Jan 27 (Reuters) – Kennisha, nearly three months pregnant, needed to sit up. As an assistant manager at a Sonic fast-food store in the foothills of Dayton, Ohio, she sat in the only chair available to employees to ease nausea, according to a complaint filed Monday with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission under the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act.
Around Thanksgiving, Sonic allegedly refused an accommodation request to occasionally sit in the chair other employees used for smoke breaks. A few months before her pregnancy ended, she quit her job and started working elsewhere.
“It’s a nice feeling to have a new job, but it’s still in the back of my mind right now,” said Kennisha, who asked to be identified only by her first name for fear of retaliation.
Sonic’s parent company, Inspire Brands, had no comment.
CHAIRMAN OF COMMISSION MAY Narrow RULE The 2022 law requires employers to reasonably accommodate pregnant workers under EEOC regulations. But those rules could change dramatically in 2024 under Republican EEOC Chairman Andrea Lucas, who says the regulations are written too broadly. As chairman since November and with a Republican majority on the commission, he has already begun a top-to-bottom transformation of the agency to reflect “a conservative perspective on civil rights,” he told Reuters exclusively in December.
Experts and lawyers say the final rules are written broadly to cover as many scenarios as possible. They said any narrowing of the rules could subject pregnant workers to discrimination or being denied financial benefits in court.
Experts said Lucas mistakenly said the rules in 2024 included anything “related to any aspect of the female reproductive system,” possibly related to abortion and in vitro fertilization. These protections almost certainly disappear, but accommodation during pregnancy is an open question, they said.
Employers are “creative and
He said he reserved seats for pregnant workers.
once the agency approves the rules
“The EEOC continues to prioritize and litigate pregnancy discrimination and harassment cases,” an EEOC spokesperson said in a statement. The agency has not yet released its 2026 regulatory agenda, a list of priorities that agencies publish each year, but workplace advocates are expecting changes soon. In January, the agency rescinded other policies in line with Lucas’ conservative vision. Nearly 2,700 pregnancy-related complaints were filed with the agency in fiscal year 2024, according to the most recent data available.
Inimai Chettiar, president of A Better Balance, the legal and advocacy group that represents Kennisha, said that even if a case deserves review under stricter rules, cases like Kennisha’s could be overlooked because of Lucas’ priorities in shifting the EEOC’s focus to issues long championed by conservatives, such as allegations of discrimination against white men.
“We have some concerns about how thoroughly the EEOC will investigate these types of violations,” Chettiar said.
The rules cover a range of physical and mental conditions related to pregnancy. Employers may deny requests if they can show that the accommodation would cause significant hardship or expense.
“Efforts to weaken meaningful worker protections that have been shown to reduce PWFA miscarriage rates by nearly 10 percent are misguided,” Democratic EEOC Commissioner Kalpana Kotagal said in a statement to Reuters. “We must stand with women and families without undermining their civil rights.” After Willamina Barclay, now 38, and her doctors classified her March 2025 pregnancy as “high risk” after a miscarriage, managers at an Amazon warehouse in Rochester, New York, rejected her requests to work lower-stress tasks, she said in an interview and an EEOC complaint.
In June, Barclay said he experienced severe abdominal pain after lifting heavy objects. Eventually, he was wheeled to the hospital, allegedly in front of Amazon human resources staff and managers.
Amazon ultimately fired Barclay for overusing unpaid leave in violation of internal policies.
“We strive to provide a safe and supportive environment for everyone,” Amazon spokeswoman Kelly Nantel said in a statement. “We will continue to listen to our teams and investigate the concerns they raise, and if we find something is wrong we will work hard to fix it.”
Although the EEOC marked his case as possible for mediation, his lawyer said Barclay would have to wait. Amazon is still deciding whether to meet, and the agency may be considering an investigation and possible lawsuit in court; It also narrows the rules that could harm his case.
But Barclay can’t wait: He’s unemployed with a newborn son.
“When you get fired, your bills don’t stop, your kids don’t stop, your babies don’t stop, your family at home doesn’t stop,” he said in an interview. (Reporting by David Hood-Nuño, Editing by Kat Stafford and Rod Nickel)
