In the recent Supreme Court case Young vs UPS, Peggy Young, a UPS package delivery driver is sueing United Parcel Service under the Pregnancy Discrimination Act after they refused to give a lighter workload. The question asked in this case is simple, to interpret what the pregnancy law means that requires pregnant women to be treated the same as other workers in how how much work they can do. I believe the supreme court should rule in favor of Young in order to help pregnant women be treated to there limitations while being effective workers.
To answer the question of interpreting the current pregnancy law to me can best be explained like football players. Football players come in many different shapes and sizes therefore they have different skills and abilities but all play an important part of the team effort. The best way for me to interpret pregnant women in a workplace like UPS where heavy lifting is required is when linemen and skill players train. Linemen are usually bigger and heavy set so they can usually lift a lot heavier weight than skill players who are faster and more agile. At the end of the workout they are equally as tired even if some lift more than others. This to me is an accurate comparison, it is similar to how pregnant workers may not be able to have the same workload but still be as productive as they can be. The fact that UPS denied to give her a lighter workload was not only inconsiderate but also could put the baby at risk. And Young cannot just quit because then she will be months without an income and she has a baby on the way. The supreme court should rule in favor of her because pregnant women, while sometimes cannot have the same workload as others can still be productive under the right conditions and there should be specific policies in place for these women.
Because I believe that pregnant workers should be given more rights in the workplace regarding workload, I also believe that it should be within some parameters. A couple of Supreme Court Justices stated that this kind of interpretation could lead to pregnant women just getting really anything they want in the workplace. I do not believe they should have total freedom. Employers need to look at what the job at hand is and set some parameters as to how much leniency that can grant to these women in order for them to stay productive. Some measures that may be taken is an extra break or two for pregnant women, or place them in a job where heavy lifting isn't required.
The supreme court I believe should ultimately rule in favor of Young and allow for more rights to be given to pregnant women. They should do so in order to create an equal workload in terms of expended energy and effort even if it means a lighter workload for women who are child bearing.
