By EMS1 Staff
SPOKANE, Wash. — The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EOCC) filed a lawsuit against Spokane’s AMR Ambulance Service for allegedly denying a paramedic’s request to be placed on light duty while she was pregnant.
The EOCC lawsuit states that AMR refused the request of a pregnant paramedic to be placed on light duty during her final trimester, McKnight’s Long Term Care News reported. The paramedic provided a doctor’s note, but AMR denied the request and told her she should take unpaid leave or work unmodified.
The EOCC has handled similar lawsuits in the health industry and stated that is a violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended by the Pregnancy Discrimination Act.
“Our investigation found that AMR had a robust practice of providing light duty work assignments to workers with similar restrictions because they sustained injuries on the job, or even off the job,” Nancy Sienko, director of the EEOC’s Seattle Field Office, said. “But AMR refused to offer light duty to this paramedic, who faced similar restrictions due to her pregnancy. Such pregnancy-related distinctions violate federal law.”