Sabatini and Associates, LLC Attorneys at Law :: Newington :: Hartford :: Connecticut

The Pregnancy Discrimination Act is an amendment to Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Discrimination on the basis of pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions constitutes unlawful sex discrimination under Title VII, which covers employers with 15 or more employees, including state and local governments. Title VII also applies to employment agencies and to labor organizations, as well as to the federal government. Women who are pregnant or affected by related conditions must be treated in the same manner as other applicants or employees with similar abilities or limitations.

Title VII’s pregnancy-related protections include:

• HiringAn employer cannot refuse to hire a pregnant woman because of her pregnancy, because of a pregnancy-related condition or because of the prejudices of co-workers, clients, or customers.
• Pregnancy and Maternity LeaveAn employer may not single out pregnancy-related conditions for special procedures to determine an employee’s ability to work. However, if an employer requires its employees to submit a doctor’s statement concerning their inability to work before granting leave or paying sick benefits, the employer may require employees affected by pregnancy-related conditions to submit such statements.

  If an employee is temporarily unable to perform her job due to pregnancy, the employer must treat her the same as any other temporarily disabled employee. For example, if the employer allows temporarily disabled employees to modify tasks, perform alternative assignments or take disability leave or leave without pay, the employer also must allow an employee who is temporarily disabled due to pregnancy to do the same.

  Pregnant employees must be permitted to work as long as they are able to perform their jobs. If an employee has been absent from work as a result of a pregnancy-related condition and recovers, her employer may not require her to remain on leave until the baby’s birth. An employer also may not have a rule that prohibits an employee from returning to work for a predetermined length of time after childbirth.

  Employers must hold open a job for a pregnancy-related absence the same length of time jobs are held open for employees on sick or disability leave.

• Health InsuranceAny health insurance provided by an employer must cover expenses for pregnancy-related conditions on the same basis as costs for other medical conditions. Health insurance for expenses arising from abortion is not required, except where the life of the mother is endangered.

  Pregnancy-related expenses should be reimbursed exactly as those incurred for other medical conditions, whether payment is on a fixed basis or a percentage of reasonable-and-customary-charge basis.

  The amounts payable by the insurance provider can be limited only to the same extent as amounts payable for other conditions. No additional, increased, or larger deductible can be imposed.

  Employers must provide the same level of health benefits for spouses of male employees as they do for spouses of female employees.

• Fringe BenefitsPregnancy-related benefits cannot be limited to married employees. In an all-female workforce or job classification, benefits must be provided for pregnancy-related conditions if benefits are provided for other medical conditions.

  If an employer provides any benefits to workers on leave, the employer must provide the same benefits for those on leave for pregnancy-related conditions.

  Employees with pregnancy-related disabilities must be treated the same as other temporarily disabled employees for accrual and crediting of seniority, vacation calculation, pay increases, and temporary disability benefits.

It is also unlawful to retaliate against an individual for opposing employment practices that discriminate based on pregnancy or for filing a discrimination charge, testifying, or participating in any way in an investigation, proceeding, or litigation under Title VII.

The Connecticut General Assembly recently enacted legislation (Public Act 07-113), signed into law by Governor M. Jodi Rell on June 12, to prohibit health insurers or HMOs from “post-claim underwriting.”  “Post-claim underwriting” occurs when an insurer issues a policy to an applicant without thoroughly reviewing an applicant’s medical records and only upon the submission of a claim, does the insurer examine the applicant’s medical records in detail and discover a medical condition that would have disqualified the applicant from coverage in the first place.  The insurer then attempts to rescind the policy, leaving the applicant uninsured.

Under the new law, Connecticut requires insurers to obtain approval from the Insurance Commissioner before it can rescind policies.  The law prohibits rescission if the grounds for rescission are based on “the insurer’s failure to complete medical underwriting” and failure to “resolve all reasonable medical questions arising from written information submitted on (or omitted from) an application,” unless the insurer proves to the Insurance Commissioner that (1) the information was false and provided by the applicant with knowledge of its falsity; or (2) the information was knowingly omitted.  In addition, the insurer must prove that the information or omission materially affected the risk it assumed.
To read the legislation, click here.

An 86-year old man is recovering after being hit by a car in Enfield, Connecticut. It happened about 2:30 Saturday afternoon in the parking lot of the Brookside Plaza on Hazard Avenue. Police say a woman driving a 2002 Hyndai hit the man. He was then taken to Baystate Hospital in Springfield, Massachusetts. There is no report on the nature and extent of the man’s injuries.  The accident is under police investigation.