A company in New Jersey has agreed to pay $55,000 in damages to an employee who was fired when she took pregnancy leave. The agreement will also require Trane U.S. Inc. to amend their policy on medical leave to include pregnancy and pay a fine of $15,000 to the Division on Civil Rights. The new policy will have to be posted where all employees can see it.

Before reaching the agreement, the company might have violated the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) when they fired an assembler in May 2012. The woman had worked in the company’s ventilation and air conditioning plant in Trenton since July 2010. During the last few weeks of her pregnancy, the woman was approved by the Department of Labor and Workforce Development to receive temporary disability benefits. When she sought medical leave from her employer, however, her request was refused, and she was fired.

The New Jersey Law Against Discrimination recently added pregnancy as a separate and protected class. Despite the fact that the law was amended after the incidents at the Trane plant took place, officials involved in the case noted that courts commonly view pregnancy discrimination as an aspect of sex discrimination.

Employees who have been discriminated against based on pregnancy should contact a knowledgeable and experienced plaintiff’s employment law attorney for help seeking damages. An attorney may be able to assist an employee who has been wrongfully terminated from her job. Employees who have returned from a leave of absence to find that they have been reassigned to other duties may also have a claim, including a possible claim of retaliation.

Source: United States Department of Labor, “Family and Medical Leave Act”