On April 21, 2023 Equal Employment Opportunity Commission Administrative Judge Kevin Rung certified a class of over 500 Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers and agricultural specialists in a pregnancy discrimination case co-counseled by Gilbert Employment Law, P.C. and Cohen, Milstein, Sellers & Toll, PLLC. In his decision, Judge Rung found that the “class agents have submitted sufficient probative evidence that the agency subjected pregnant employees to a policy that distinguished pregnancy from other short-term impairments and involuntarily placed them on temporary light duty because they were pregnant without regard to whether they can continue to perform the essential position of record”. The class includes all CBP “Officers and Agriculture Specialists and were placed on temporary light duty pursuant to CBP’s Temporary Light Duty Policy due to their pregnancy, at any time after July 18, 2016”.
Judge Rung’s decision was featured in articles in the Government Executive and Federal News Network. Government Executive quoted Cori Cohen, who is representing the class, saying, “Our clients endured what is all too common in the workplace: faulty assumptions that a pregnant employee can’t carry out their job duties. Through this lawsuit, we seek to hold the agency accountable for its failures to provide these women with the opportunities and protections required by law.”
If you believe you may be a member of the class, you can contact GEL here. If you have experienced pregnancy discrimination in the workplace, GEL may be able to help you. You can request an initial consultation here.