I chose to do my report on sex discrimination. The case I will discuss deals with an employee who filed a sex discrimination lawsuit against her employer because the employer failed to cover her oral contraceptives as part of her health plan benefits. The case took place in Washington State.
Under federal law, The civil rights act of 1964 makes it illegal for an employer who employees 15 or more employees to discriminate on the basis of a persons sex. To fail or refuse to hire or to discharge any individual, or otherwise to discriminate against any individual with respect to his compensation, terms, conditions, or privileges of employment, because of such individual's race, color, religion, sex, or national origin is considered illegal.
The pregnancy discrimination act of 1978 was an amendment to the civil rights act of 1964. This act states that discrimination on the basis of pregnancy, childbirth, or other related medical conditions is considered unlawful and constitutes sex discrimination.
Washington state has its own laws on sex and pregnancy discrimination. The Washington administrative code clearly states that employee benefits provided in part or in whole by the employer must be equal for male and female employees. In is considered an unfair practice under Washington law to provide full health insurance coverage to male employees but not to provide full health insurance coverage including pregnancy and childbirth to female employees.
This case ultimately will have a big impact on women. Statistics show that 64% of women in this county who are between the ages of 15-44 use some form of birth control. Of that percentage 27% use oral contraceptivess. It should also be noted that many women use oral contraceptives not just for birth control but because of hormone or other issues that may render them medically necessary. This alone should have been justification for them to be covered long before this lawsuit took place in my opinion.
