Take the First Step
March 24, 2025 · Benjamin J. Treger
What Your Employer Can’t Do When You’re Expecting
You told your employer you were pregnant. Or you requested parental leave. Or you came back from leave and found that your role had changed, your responsibilities had been reassigned, or your position had been “eliminated.”
These are not coincidences. They are among the most common forms of employment discrimination in California, and they are illegal.
California provides multiple overlapping protections for pregnant employees and new parents. Understanding how they work together is essential because the total leave entitlement is often far greater than most employees (or employers) realize.
Pregnancy Disability Leave (PDL) provides up to four months of job-protected leave for employees who are disabled by pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions. This applies from day one of employment with no tenure requirement. The leave can be taken all at once or intermittently based on medical need. Employers with five or more employees must comply. PDL also includes the right to reasonable accommodation for pregnancy-related conditions even while still working: modified duties, more frequent breaks, temporary transfer to a less physically demanding role.
The California Family Rights Act (CFRA) provides up to 12 weeks of job-protected leave for bonding with a new child (birth, adoption, or foster placement). CFRA applies to employers with five or more employees and to employees who have worked at least 1,250 hours in the preceding 12 months. This leave is separate from and in addition to PDL, meaning an eligible employee can take PDL for the period of pregnancy-related disability, then take 12 weeks of CFRA leave for bonding on top of that.
The federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) provides 12 weeks of leave at employers with 50 or more employees. FMLA runs concurrently with CFRA for baby-bonding purposes but does not overlap with PDL for pregnancy disability. In practice, this means an employee who qualifies for all three programs may be entitled to four months of PDL plus 12 weeks of CFRA/FMLA bonding leave, totaling roughly seven months of job-protected absence.
Many employers either do not understand these overlapping entitlements or deliberately miscalculate them to pressure employees into returning sooner than the law requires.
The prohibitions are extensive and leave little room for ambiguity. Your employer cannot fire you for being pregnant. They cannot refuse to hire you because you are or might become pregnant. They cannot demote you, reduce your hours, or reassign your duties because you requested or took leave. They cannot pressure you to return before your leave expires or to take less leave than you are entitled to. They cannot retaliate against you for asserting your leave rights or for complaining about pregnancy-related discrimination. They cannot make negative assumptions about your commitment, availability, or career trajectory based on your pregnancy.
And when you return from leave, they must restore you to the same position you held when leave began, or to a comparable position with the same pay, benefits, seniority, and status. “Comparable” means genuinely equivalent, not a demotion with a new title.
Pregnancy discrimination almost never comes with an explicit confession. Instead, it manifests through patterns that become clear when you look at the timeline.
A performance review that suddenly turns negative after you announce your pregnancy, despite years of consistently positive evaluations. Being left off client pitches, leadership meetings, or high-visibility projects during your pregnancy. Comments from management about whether you will “really come back” after the baby, or how “things will be different” when you return. Being told the company “went in a different direction” while you were on leave. Returning to find your office reassigned, your direct reports now reporting to someone else, your responsibilities distributed to colleagues, or your role redefined into something lesser. Being offered a part-time position or a reduced role as your “return” option. Being placed on a performance improvement plan within weeks of returning from leave, despite no documented issues before leave. Being excluded from the promotion cycle because you were “away too long.”
Each of these standing alone might have an innocent explanation. In combination, and timed around a pregnancy or leave, they build a compelling case.
Many pregnancy discrimination cases carry a parallel retaliation claim. If you complained about discriminatory treatment, requested an accommodation, pushed back when your rights were being violated, or filed a complaint with HR or a government agency, and the employer responded with adverse action, that retaliation is a separate legal claim with its own damages. Retaliation claims are often easier to prove than the underlying discrimination because the timeline between complaint and adverse action tends to be stark and well-documented.
Even before leave begins, pregnant employees are entitled to reasonable accommodation for pregnancy-related conditions under PDL. If you need modified duties, a temporary schedule change, more frequent bathroom breaks, a place to sit, or a transfer away from hazardous conditions, your employer must engage in an interactive process to provide those accommodations. Refusing to accommodate or penalizing you for requesting accommodation is a separate violation.
Pregnancy discrimination claims under FEHA can result in lost wages (past and future), emotional distress damages, punitive damages, and attorneys’ fees. The emotional distress component is often significant because the discrimination occurs during one of the most vulnerable and important periods in a person’s life, when the stress of workplace mistreatment is compounded by the physical and emotional demands of pregnancy and new parenthood.
If you believe you have been discriminated against because of your pregnancy or your use of parental leave, document everything. Save communications, note the timeline, and identify witnesses. Do not assume that because your employer is “nice about it” or “just following business needs” they are acting lawfully. Illegal discrimination frequently comes wrapped in sympathetic language and plausible-sounding justifications.
Contact Treger Legal for a free, confidential consultation. We handle pregnancy discrimination cases on contingency: you pay nothing unless we recover for you.
This post is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Consult with a qualified employment attorney about your specific situation.