Company made pregnant employee work over 40 hours despite doctor’s orders, feds say

A pregnant employee at an Alabama manufacturing plant was docked for missing work for prenatal appointments and had to work overtime despite restrictions from her doctor, according to a lawsuit.

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission announced it’s suing the vehicle manufacturer Polaris Industries, accusing the company of violating the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act .

“We disagree with the allegations in the complaint,” a spokesperson for the company told McClatchy News in an email. “Polaris is committed to providing a fair and inclusive workplace for all our employees, and we take seriously our compliance with all applicable employment laws, including the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act.”

In June 2023, the woman was hired to install electric vehicle floor panels on a line of the plant that often required employees to work more than 40 hours a week to meet the assigned production goal, according to the lawsuit filed Sept. 25 in the Northern District of Alabama.

During her orientation, she told her employer she was pregnant and would need to attend periodic appointments, but the company’s policy stated workers were permitted a limited number of unexcused absences during the first 60 days of their employment, the lawsuit says.

Medical appointments didn’t fall under the allowed absences, which included jury duty and bereavement, so the woman was docked attendance points for missing work due to her pregnancy, according to the lawsuit.

The worker said her physical condition worsened due to the mandatory overtime, and in September 2023 she got a note from her doctor stating she was not to work more than 40 hours a week until December, officials said.

Human resources denied her accommodation, saying overtime was “an essential function of the position,” according to the lawsuit.

But the woman said her line had extra workers, so she believed it wouldn’t be an undue hardship to excuse her from working more than 40 hours a week, according to a copy of her email included in the court filing.

She was also denied leave through the plant’s disability provider because she hadn’t been working for the company long enough, the lawsuit says.

On Oct. 16, her boss told her if she was docked one more attendance point she would be fired, so she resigned, officials said.

Attorneys for the EEOC said the woman’s inability to provide an essential function of the job was temporary, she would soon be able to perform it again and the employer could have “reasonably accommodated” her.

The EEOC is seeking back pay and punitive damages.

The Polaris plant is in Madison County, which includes the Huntsville metropolitan area.

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