When we assist workers who contact our free and confidential helpline in exercising their workplace rights, it can lead not only to vindication of their own rights, but to workplace-wide policy changes impacting thousands of employees. Our client Devin R. is one such example of a worker whose case brought justice not only to her but to all of her colleagues who now benefit from an absence policy that complies with the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act.
Devin was a dedicated registered nurse—now a nurse practitioner—who had been working at her company for over four years when she suffered a miscarriage. Like many women who experience pregnancy loss, Devin grappled with feelings of guilt, a sense that she had done something wrong that caused her to miscarry. Her family, friends, and OB/GYN all assured her that she had done nothing wrong. Still, the feeling was hard to shake. Then, her job told her that she had done something wrong: she had called out of work for two days, a violation of the company’s attendance policy that now placed her job at risk.
When Devin learned that her pregnancy was no longer viable, she had immediately notified her company that she was experiencing a pregnancy-related medical emergency and, per her doctor’s orders, would have to miss her next two shifts. The initial response Devin received was a compassionate one. Never did she imagine that she would later receive a call directing her to report to Human Resources to discuss the “corrective action” she would be receiving due to her absences. When Devin got this call, she could only assume that there must have been a mistake. “You don’t understand,” she tried to explain. “It was a miscarriage!” But there was no misunderstanding. She received a follow-up email confirming, “All callouts count the same, this is a [company] policy.”
Experiences like Devin’s are unfortunately not uncommon at companies like the one she worked for—a large healthcare system in Florida—and others around the country that utilize “no-fault” attendance policies under which employees are disciplined for missing work regardless of the reason—even for medical reasons. Indeed, Devin’s company’s policy stated that absences due to unplanned illnesses or medical emergencies were subject to discipline unless they were covered by the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), a federal law that unfortunately offers no protection to almost half of American workers because of its stringent eligibility requirements.
However, the FMLA is not the only law employers have to take into account before penalizing an employee for missing work. One of the various other laws that employers have to consider is the federal Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA). As of June 27, 2023, the PWFA requires employers nationwide to provide reasonable accommodations for pregnancy, childbirth, and related medical conditions, including time off for needs related to pregnancy loss. Federal regulations confirm that enforcing a “no-fault” attendance policy against an employee who requires leave to recover from miscarriage violates the PWFA, absent evidence of “undue hardship” on the company—a generally high bar to meet.
After Devin learned that she was essentially going to be “punished” by her employer for her “worst day”—the day she lost her pregnancy—she immediately started researching her rights. Her strong sense that “this couldn’t be right, especially at a healthcare organization that’s supposed to be taking care of people,” compelled her to contact our helpline. When we spoke with Devin, we confirmed that refusing to even consider excusing her miscarriage-related absences was in fact not right—it violated the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act.
Feeling newly encouraged by the information we provided her about the law, Devin met with company personnel in an effort to educate them about the PWFA. She hoped that they would realize their error in failing to consider the new law and not make her sign the corrective action they intended to issue her. Instead, they doubled down, insisting that they had no obligation to excuse her absences. They even went so far as to admonish her for the timing of her miscarriage, which had happened right before a pre-scheduled vacation. This meeting and the deeply insensitive comments about her miscarriage left Devin feeling devastated, dismissed, and alone, at a time when she was still grieving the loss of a much-wanted pregnancy and trying to overcome her feelings of being “less than.”
Still, Devin was undeterred. Since her employer refused to even acknowledge that the PWFA applied to her situation, Devin retained our counsel with the overarching goal of changing the company’s policy—not just for herself but for the many other employees whose jobs were in jeopardy due to the company’s routine practice of penalizing workers for medical circumstances beyond their control. Devin was especially worried for those workers who did not share her seniority and were too afraid to push back against a large employer, even if the employer was clearly in the wrong.
As a result of our advocacy, the company rescinded Devin’s disciplinary action and rewrote their attendance policy to comply with the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act. They also trained their supervisory staff on the new policy and how to comply with it in the future.
Devin described feeling “overwhelmed with gratitude and validation” when she saw the new policy. “I truly appreciate the time, care, and advocacy you’ve put into helping me,” she told us, “and for playing such an important role in changing the policy at work. I’m so grateful to have had you in my corner.”
We are extraordinarily pleased that we were able to achieve this outcome for Devin, and for her thousands of coworkers, many of whom will no doubt benefit from the policy changes and management training the company has since implemented. And we deeply commend Devin for her courage in being the one to step up so that others in her shoes won’t have to—demonstrating once again that when individual workers’ rights are affirmed and enforced, it can have a lasting impact in creating a more supportive, accommodating workplace that reaches far beyond one employee.
If you have been penalized for missing work due to your own medical needs, including pregnancy-related medical needs, or those of a family member, you can contact our free and confidential legal helpline to learn about any legal protections you may have.