Question

Skyline Preparatory High for Girls is an elite prep school with 47 faculty and staff members on the payroll. Jamie Davis, a two-year English instructor, becomes pregnant. She is not married. She is a slim woman who is not showing visible signs of pregnancy and has not told the school administrators of her pregnancy. In her sixth month of pregnancy she develops pre-eclampsia, necessitating that she go on pregnancy leave immediately. Davis requests medical leave due to her pregnancy and applies for FMLA, believing that she is eligible (and because she desires to care for her baby after the baby is born). Skyline Prep's Headmaster, Doris Jones, tells Davis that she must resign because she would be setting a poor example for the students. Davis refuses, and now Doris Jones wants to terminate her.

Evaluate the actions of the school in this situation. In a positive and professional way, explain to Doris Jones what the school should do to prevent an adverse situation from occurring.?

As an attorney, what actions would you recommend that Doris Jones take to resolve this situation?

Answer 1

Pregnant employees are protected under Pregnancy discrimination act, PDA which requires the employer not to discriminate against the pregnant employee and the employee cannot be fired, rejected for a job promotion or forced to take leave based on the fact that the employee is pregnant. The pregnancy related medical conditions are also considered as disability under ADA and hence the employee would be able to get reasonable accommodation under ADA. Jamie Davis satisfies the conditions to get protection under both PDA and ADA. To get qualified under FMLA the employer should have 50 employees or more and the employee should have worked for more than 12 months and at least 1250 work hours, but the school has only 47 employees and Jamie Davis is not eligible for benefits under FMLA.

Hence I would recommend Doris Jones and Skyline Prep not to terminate Jamie Davis based on her pregnancy because it will be a violation of both PDA and ADA. Jamie Davis’ pre-eclampsia would be covered under ADA and the school has the responsibility to provide accommodation to cover the disability or allow her to go on pregnancy leave. Jamie Davis cannot be fired based on the assumption that she would be setting a poor example for the students and school will have to face legal consequences if terminated. As school does not have 50 employees it is not covered under FMLA and Doris Jones can take decision on the leave application based on the school policies.