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Article: Pregnancy Discrimination Act
- Article from:
- Dictionary of American History
- Author:
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PREGNANCY DISCRIMINATION ACT
PREGNANCY DISCRIMINATION ACT
(PDA), a 1978 amendment to Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, prohibits workplace discrimination on the basis of pregnancy. The impetus for the act was a 1976 Supreme Court decision,
General Electric v. Gilbert,
in which the Court held that denial of benefits for pregnancy-related disability was not discrimination based on sex. This holding echoed past management decisions by which married women faced job discrimination and pregnant women were routinely fired. By 1977, women made up more than 45 percent of the labor force, but only one-quarter had insurance plans that allowed sick leave for pregnancy-related illness. ...