Pregnancy / Paternity

Prominent Bar Association Sued Over Pregnancy Discrimination

Another day, another gender discrimination lawsuit in the legal industry.

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On Wednesday, a lawsuit was filed against the New York County Lawyers Association by a former employee alleging she was subjected to discrimination once she became pregnant. Heidi Leibowitz was a fee dispute program administrator for the bar association who was hired in 2005, but she says she experienced discriminatory behavior — including being taunted by coworkers, being unable to freely use the restroom, and being given additional strenuous tasks — when she became pregnant in 2013.

As reported by Law.com, the complaint alleges during her first pregnancy Leibowitz was asked to move boxes, a task that she wasn’t previously assigned, was only given 15 minutes to pump in a bathroom when she returned to work, and her superiors made derogatory comments about her pregnancy:

The first time she became pregnant, Leibowitz alleged, she was assigned arduous tasks that she wasn’t assigned before, such as retrieving boxes from a basement. After giving birth, she said, she could initially only pump breast milk in the bathroom and was only given 15 minutes to do so. After complaining, she was given access to a conference room, but it was rarely available for use, she said.

“Both defendants’ managing director and director repeatedly [asked] plaintiff whether she planned on having any more kids and ‘how many babies do you people have!,’ among numerous other snide and degrading remarks,” her suit claims.

The complaint alleges the poor treatment continued during Leibowitz’s second pregnancy when she was also allegedly told to stop taking so many bathroom breaks despite repeatedly needing to throw up during that time.
Plaintiff’s attorney, Christopher Van De Water of the Van De Water Law Firm, provided this comment about the litigation, “Discrimination in the present culture shouldn’t be tolerated under any circumstances, especially in the context of a woman’s pregnancy.” NYCLA has not yet commented on the matter.

headshotKathryn Rubino is a Senior Editor at Above the Law, and host of The Jabot podcast. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter (@Kathryn1).

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