Civil Rights Groups File Amicus Brief Supporting Women Dockworkers’ Fight for Pregnancy Rights at California Ports

November 1. 2024

For Immediate Release
Nov 1, 2024

Media Contact
Nazirah Ahmad
[email protected]

Equal Rights Advocates joins Legal Aid at Work, The Center for WorkLife Law, and A Better Balance in filing an amicus brief in support of a case challenging discriminatory policies that force pregnant workers to choose between their health and their paychecks—a practice that California outlawed nearly 25 years ago

Nov. 4, 2024 – Equal Rights Advocates, Legal Aid at Work, The Center for WorkLife Law, and A Better Balance have filed an amicus brief in California state court supporting women dockworkers fighting for their rights to pregnancy and lactation accommodations at the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach. Backing the ACLU’s lawsuit challenging discriminatory policies that effectively penalize women seeking dock work for starting families, the brief supports the plaintiffs’ effort to proceed with the lawsuit as a class action. 

The brief argues that California’s pregnancy and lactation accommodation laws are essential public health measures and crucial tools for ensuring women can access high-paying jobs in traditionally male-dominated trades, as well as union membership. Dockworker positions at the Ports can lead to union jobs offering over $200,000 in annual wages and benefits. However, the Pacific Maritime Association and associated unions have maintained policies that disproportionately delay women’s advancement to these lucrative positions.

The current policies of the defendants—Pacific Maritime Association, International Longshore and Warehouse Union, and International Longshore and Warehouse Local 13—force pregnant workers to choose between their health and their paychecks. Pregnant dockworkers must either risk taking unsafe assignments or lose their right to work that day—a practice that California outlawed nearly 25 years ago. The defendants also make it difficult if not impossible for lactating workers to remain on the job, and fail to notify pregnant and lactating workers of their rights, despite the fact that they are legally required to do so. The impact on workers’ careers is substantial, with data showing it takes nearly three years longer for workers who experience pregnancy to advance to union status compared to those who don’t.

“These outdated, unlawful policies keep women at the lowest rung of the workforce,” said Catherine Bendor, Director of Litigation at Equal Rights Advocates. “They deny women access to the high wages, health insurance, pension benefits, and career advancement opportunities that come with union membership.”

The discriminatory practices can result in up to two years of lost pay during pregnancy, recovery, and lactation periods. Workers who need to pump breast milk are not being provided the necessary time and clean, private spaces that have been required by California law for over two decades.

“When women are able to be a part of the workforce, everyone benefits,” said Katherine Wutchiett, Senior Staff Attorney for Legal Aid at Work’s Work and Family Program. “That’s why California led the nation in putting into place strong pregnancy accommodation policies that support women in continuing to work throughout their pregnancies.”

Key Issues Highlighted in the Brief:

• The critical role of state and local pregnancy accommodation laws in protecting workers, particularly women workers in traditionally male-dominated fields
• The necessity of class actions in addressing systemic workers’ rights violations
• The particular appropriateness of class certification for pregnancy and lactation accommodation claims under California law

Pacific Maritime Association and the International Longshore and Warehouse Union, which were previously subject to a federal consent decree in the 1980s and 1990s aimed at increasing women’s access to longshore jobs, have failed to adequately update their policies, despite California leading the nation in pregnancy- and family-friendly employment laws.

“Even with federal rights in place, state and local pregnancy and lactation accommodation laws remain a critical source of protection for workers,” said Katherine Greenberg, Director of Strategic Litigation at A Better Balance. “We are committed to ensuring laws like California’s Pregnant Workers Fairness Act are properly interpreted and actively enforced.”  

“The employers in this case have outright refused to comply with a 25-year-old law designed to secure equal opportunity for women, said Liz Morris, Co-Director at the Center for WorkLife Law at UC Law SF. “We support this class action empowering women workers to collectively fight for these critical rights.”

The brief emphasizes that California’s pregnancy and lactation accommodation laws apply to all industries without exception and must be rigorously enforced everywhere, including at the Ports.

To speak to leaders of the organizations that filed the brief, please contact Blake Case at [email protected] or (601) 832-6079.