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Employment Law
Alert January 19, 2009
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Labor and
Employment Practice Group Leaders
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Practice Group
James E. Baiers
Connie M. Cessante
Anne-Marie Vercruysse Welch
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ELLIOTT-LARSEN
CIVIL RIGHTS ACT AMENDED TO PROHIBIT DISCRIMINATION BASED ON
PREGNANCY, CHILDBIRTH AND RELATED MEDICAL CONDITIONS
By Kurt Graham
Governor Granholm
recently signed legislation that amends the Elliott-Larsen Civil
Rights Act ("ELCRA") to prohibit discrimination based on
pregnancy, childbirth or a related medical condition.
The ELCRA now
specifically prohibits an employer from treating "an individual
affected by pregnancy, childbirth, or a related medical condition
differently for any employment-related purpose from another
individual who is not so affected but similar in ability or inability
to work, without regard to the source of any condition affecting the
other individual's ability or inability to work." The
amendment excludes from the definition of a medical condition related
to pregnancy or childbirth a "non-therapeutic abortion not
intended to save the life of the mother." The amendment
also "does not apply to the employment of an individual by his
or her parent, spouse, or child."
Although the
amendment imposes non-discrimination obligations similar to the
current Federal Pregnancy Discrimination Act, it will nevertheless
impact employers with workplaces in Michigan since:
1) ELCRA
applies to an employer who employs at least one employee in
Michigan. Prior to the ELCRA amendment, only employers who
employed at least 15 employees and were thus subject to the Federal
Pregnancy Discrimination Act were prohibited from discriminating on
the basis of pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions.
2)
Supervisors are considered agents of the employer under ELCRA and can
be held personally liable for any ELCRA violations. There is no
personal liability for supervisors under the Federal Pregnancy
Discrimination Act.
3) The
amendment appears to prohibit the practice of offering favored or
light duty work to employees who suffer workplace injuries but not to
employees whose same inability to work was caused by
pregnancy.
Michigan
employers should be aware of these new prohibitions under ELCRA when
making personnel decisions. They should also update their EEO
and Non-Discrimination Policies accordingly to account for the new
prohibitions. In addition to updating policies, employer should
advise supervisory employees who have authority to make personnel
decisions about the ELCRA amendment.
If you have
any questions about the new amendments please contact Kurt Graham at
(616) 608-1144 or your Clark Hill attorney.
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To find out
more about Clark Hill and our Labor and Employment Practice Group,
visit clarkhill.com
or call 800.949.3124
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