(CNN) – Peggy Young just wanted to support her family. As an employee at United Parcel Services, she delivered letters and packages, a job that sometimes required heavy lifting. When she became pregnant, she asked for a lighter assignment. UPS denied the request. Although they routinely granted accommodations to other employees, Young wasn’t eligible.
Throughout America, pregnant women in physically demanding jobs face an unconscionable choice: protect their health or keep their job. In Kansas, Heather Wiseman was fired for carrying a water bottle to remain hydrated; in New York, Patricia Leahy was terminated for refusing to “perform heavy lifting, climbing ladders and other strenuous movements.” In Texas, Tennessee, and Alabama, women were fired, just like Young, because they couldn’t lift heavy objects.
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