The nation’s largest ambulance provider has been sued by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission for refusing to accommodate a worker’s pregnancy-related medical restrictions.
American Medical Response Ambulance Service is a medical transportation company that provides services that include managed transportation and disaster response.
A pregnant paramedic worker for AMR in Spokane, WA, requested light duty for the last part of her pregnancy with a doctor’s note, which was denied by the company, according to the EEOC lawsuit. The file also stated that AMR directed the paramedic to either take unpaid leave or work without modifications, despite other instances when AMR employees who were injured on or off the job were given light duty.
These are violations of the Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended by the Pregnancy Discrimination Act, the EEOC said. Healthcare providers, including nursing homes, have faced similar suits from the EEOC.
“Our investigation found that AMR had a robust practice of providing light duty work assignments to workers with similar restrictions because they sustained injuries on the job, or even off the job,” said Nancy Sienko, director of the EEOC’s Seattle Field Office. “But AMR refused to offer light duty to this paramedic, who faced similar restrictions due to her pregnancy. Such pregnancy-related distinctions violate federal law.”
