Family Responsibility Discrimination

A growing number of discrimination claims are based on the inability to juggle the demands of work with a person's responsibilities as a parent.  Although parents/caregivers are not a protected class under state or federal law, the EEOC Guidelines state "there are circumstances in which discrimination against caregivers might constitute unlawful disparate treatment."  

In fact, over the last decade many plaintiffs have brought successful legal actions for termination, failure to promote and other claims based on this type of discrimination; with resulting damage awards against employers as high as $25,000,000.00.  For more information I would highly recommend an article by Lynne Anne Anderson and Laura Grosshans published in the January/February 2008 issue of Municipal Lawyer.