Mothers, not only do you have your own day this Sunday, you also are the primary beneficiaries of a growing body of laws and court rulings that grant workplace protections to caregivers.
California is among several states and cities that are passing or considering legislation banning job discrimination against workers with the responsibility of caring for children, aging parents or ill spouses. Caregiving discrimination lawsuits have exploded -- with plaintiffs often winning -- which has left some employers worried that it would be harder for them to fire workers who use their caregiving duties as an excuse for poor performance.
These laws and other actions are based on an emerging legal doctrine built around the concept of "family responsibilities discrimination." The doctrine is based on evidence that pregnant women and caregivers often are passed over for jobs, dinged on performance reviews or blocked from promotions. Some employers assume they would be absent more frequently and won't work as hard or be as committed to their careers as those without caregiving duties.
"We've all heard about the glass ceiling," said Joan Williams, who teaches property law at UC Hastings College of the Law in San Francisco. "But most women never get near it because they're stopped by the maternal wall."
Nora Lopez contends that her pregnancy led to her being fired as a Walgreen Co. store manager. Lopez said she had worked for the drugstore chain for 12 years and was promoted to store manager with a string of positive evaluations when she became pregnant in 2005.
On days when she suffered from morning sickness, Lopez said she got her district manager's permission to come in half an hour late and let another employee open her Vallejo, Calif., store, as other store managers had done on occasion.
But when a new district manager took over, he told her that she had violated store policy by not opening the store herself, Lopez said. He and other company officials pressured Lopez to resign, she said, but when she refused, Walgreen fired her in November 2005. Lopez, who already had two children, lost her medical benefits months before her son, Angel, was born.
She is suing the retail chain for back pay and damages. Walgreen spokesman Michael Polzin said only that "policy violations" by Lopez led to her dismissal.
Lopez, 41, tears up when she talks about the experience. "I felt like I had no voice, I felt I had no rights," she said. "I get sick when I'm pregnant. I can't help it."
