Our client, Sergeant Stephanie King, is a law enforcement officer in Osceola County, Florida. A Better Balance represents Sergeant King in the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) investigation into years of discriminatory treatment by her employer. Among the claims in her charge, Sergeant King alleges that she has faced an ongoing pattern of retaliation for asserting her right to pregnancy-related accommodations. When Sergeant King asked for accommodations to help her pump milk for her new baby on the job, she was punitively assigned to a satellite office that was a notoriously unfit place to pump milk for her newborn baby. While assigned there, Sergeant King encountered sewage floods and broken air conditioning in peak summer heat. She was also removed not once but twice from her permanent position while she was on light duty due to lactation- and pregnancy-related conditions, a move she believes to be unprecedented at her place of work.
Now, the EEOC has completed its investigation and determined that they have cause to believe that her employer, the Osceola County Sheriff’s Office, illegally discriminated against Sergeant King. The EEOC reaches this conclusion for less than 4% of the charges they receive, making this a difficult-to-achieve but incredibly relieving outcome for Sergeant King, and an important affirmation of her legal claims.
As we see firsthand on our free, legal helpline, sometimes, employers will outright refuse to give an employee accommodations for pregnancy or lactation, but just as often they’ll accommodate an employee in the most punitive way possible. However, it is against the law to punish, mistreat, or humiliate an employee for asserting their rights under the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act. Despite this, there is a pattern of discrimination and retaliation against new and expectant moms working in male-dominated fields such as law enforcement. This retaliation dissuades not only that employee, but all the pregnant employees that come after them from seeking accommodations.
Sergeant King’s experience is, unfortunately, representative of many women in male-dominated fields who begin families. Women in law enforcement often face particular barriers and stigma when they become pregnant on the job, and are treated like liabilities instead of valued employees. Sergeant King even waited to start a family with her husband until she had been in law enforcement for more than a decade, believing that maybe the outcome would be different for her if she had demonstrated her worth. However, she learned through this experience that pregnant law enforcement officers face barriers no matter how hard they work or how good they are at their jobs.
We are pleased that the EEOC has determined that Sergeant King’s claims have legal merit, but her fight for justice is not over. The finding of reasonable cause vindicates her legal claims and incentivizes her employer to reach a just resolution with Sergeant King. We hope the Osceola County Sheriff’s Office takes this opportunity to right this wrong.
Sergeant King hopes that her story will lead to a more inclusive future for women in law enforcement. Experiences like hers, sadly, can send a message to women in male-dominated professions that starting a family comes at a cost. But Sergeant King wants to send a message too: these women are not alone, and they are not helpless. To her, taking a stand is worth it if it makes employers think twice before punishing female officers for becoming pregnant.
Workers who believe they have experienced pregnancy discrimination can contact A Better Balance’s free, confidential legal helpline here.
