[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 191 (Thursday, December 8, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7048-S7049]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                   Unanimous Consent Request--S. 4431

  Mr. CASEY. Mr. President, I rise today to talk about the Pregnant 
Workers Fairness Act, which is a bill I first introduced in 2012 with 
Senator Shaheen of New Hampshire.
  Senator Cassidy from Louisiana has worked hard for years with me and 
with others to get this bill passed. I want to thank Senator Cassidy, 
as well as the chair of the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, 
Committee, Senator Murray; Ranking Member Burr of that same committee; 
and Majority Leader Schumer and others for all the work they have done 
to help us pass this bill.
  This is a commonsense bill that has broad bipartisan, bicameral 
support. Everyone from the ACLU to the U.S. Conference of Catholic 
Bishops, to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce supports this legislation. 
These organizations didn't merely endorse the bill after reviewing it; 
they were actively involved in shaping the legislative text and finding 
agreement on the text that we are attempting to vote on, and they 
remain supportive today.
  The Pregnant Workers Fairness Act simply closes a loophole in the 
1978 Pregnancy Discrimination Act to allow pregnant workers to request 
reasonable accommodations--``reasonable accommodations''; you are going 
to hear that phrase a lot today--so that that worker can continue 
working safely during their pregnancy and upon returning to work after 
childbirth.
  I am going to be coming back to that phrase in a moment, ``reasonable 
accommodations,'' but I want to cite just two examples among many. Just 
one from Pennsylvania--Janasia, a teaching assistant working at a 
childcare facility. She is from Bucks County, PA, in suburban 
Philadelphia. She suffered a miscarriage due to an infection during a 
previous pregnancy. When she got pregnant again, she asked for extra 
bathroom breaks, which were necessary to prevent contracting another 
infection. She was made to wait over an hour just to use the bathroom. 
Later that day, Janasia was fired.
  This is just one example of a pregnant worker asking for a simple--
simple--commonsense accommodation and being denied that accommodation.
  What are other types of reasonable accommodations that pregnant 
workers might request? Light duty is a common example. Pregnant people 
are routinely advised by their doctors to limit how much they lift, 
whether it is 20 pounds or 25 pounds or 30 pounds.
  Peggy Young was a UPS driver who requested light duty when she was 
pregnant. Other workers had received light duty, but she was denied 
because there was no requirement under the 1978 Pregnancy 
Discrimination Act to provide reasonable accommodations. That is the 
loophole we are trying to fix. Peggy Young was forced onto unpaid leave 
and eventually took her case all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court.
  Other common accommodations a pregnant worker might request are 
stools or water bottles. Cashiers and other retail workers are often 
denied these reasonable accommodations that can help them maintain a 
healthy pregnancy.
  There have also been multiple cases where pregnant workers have been 
demoted or forced into lower paying jobs because their employer refused 
to provide uniforms that can accommodate

[[Page S7049]]

the worker's pregnancy even though the pregnancy did not affect the 
worker's ability to perform essential job functions.
  These are all examples of simple changes employers can provide to a 
pregnant worker's job duties or requirements that would not 
substantially inconvenience the employer, while allowing pregnant 
workers to continue working through their pregnancies. Yet, all too 
often, pregnant workers are being denied these reasonable 
accommodations, leading to impossible choices for these workers.
  Keep working in an unsafe environment. Is that a good choice? Taking 
leave early and running out before the baby is born? Or, No. 3, be let 
go or forced to quit and face the stress and financial strain that 
comes with losing their job.
  There is no need for this to happen. The Pregnant Workers Fairness 
Act sets up a simple framework that is easily understood and utilized 
by both employers and employees.
  Under the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, a pregnant employee may 
request reasonable accommodations from their employer. The worker and 
the employer will then engage in an interactive process to determine 
how the employer can provide these reasonable accommodations to the 
worker. This protects both parties. The worker may not be forced to 
accept accommodations that are not needed and that do not address the 
original concern. The employer cannot be asked to provide an 
accommodation that would cause an undue burden on that employer.

  If this process sounds familiar, that is because we have carefully 
crafted it to closely resemble the process under the Americans with 
Disabilities Act. The ADA is 30 years old--lots of case law in those 
years, testing and probing and examining this reasonable accommodations 
standard. So we have 30 years of evidence that reasonable 
accommodations is a way to protect workers who have a disability in the 
workplace, and it is also a great way to protect a pregnant worker. 
Reasonable accommodations.
  Mr. President, at this time I will yield to my colleague, the Chair 
of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Pensions, and Labor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. King). The Senator from Washington.