A recent case heard before the U.S. Supreme Court, Young v.
UPS (issued March 25, 2015), caught the attention of many
women and employers as well. In Young, the Court
interpreted the Pregnancy Discrimination Act (PDA), in particular
the second clause of that Act, which reads that employers must
treat "women affected by pregnancy...the same for all
employment-related purposes...as other persons not so affected but
similar in their ability or inability to work."
Young, a part-time driver for UPS, had suffered several
miscarriages prior to the pregnancy at issue in this case. She was
told by her doctor that she could lift only 20 pounds during the
first 20 weeks of her pregnancy, and then only 10 pounds until the
pregnancy was over. UPS advised Young that she was not to return to
work at UPS until she could lift the required 70 pounds that her
particular job required. Young subsequently exhausted all of her
Family and Medical Leave Act time, took an unpaid leave of
