I am 11 weeks pregnant. I work in a kennel in a Veterinary Hospital, and get paid hourly. I lift heavy dogs and objects and perform strenuous tasks all day. About 3 weeks ago I starting having "all day sickness" and ended up in the hospital on an IV one day and obviosly missed work that day. When a position as a receptionist opened up I went to the hospital administrator and inquired about it. (when I was hired, 4 mo. ago, they said they always preferred to hire from within) He said there was a new policy about "no lateral movement until you are at (such and such) level of training". --We have tests on different topics related to veterinary care that we have to take regardless of postion, the longer you've been there, the more tests you have covered. The level they want you at in order to qualify you for a lateral move in based on the level of an employee who has been there 5 yrs.-- Also he said he was concerned about puting me in reception due to seeing me crying earlier in the day, and what if he "put me up front and I started crying in front of a client". I was offended at the comment but dropped the topic of moving to reception due to the new policy. Since then 2 employees have made lateral moves, neither of which is at the specified level of training. One move opened up another position in reception. Again I went to the boss, because I felt if they could move, why not me, especially with my pregnancy. I felt that the policy applying to me, not the other employees was at least a double standard if not discrimination against me. So at that meeting the boss said he thought about me coming up to reception but this time the reason he couldn't move me was because of my sickness the previous week (even though I had not missed any other days, and the Dr. gave me some meds to take while I am working and I have been perfectly fine since then). He said that he couldn't rely on me to show up on a regular basis due to my "morning sickness". Said that if I could prove to him "OVER THE NEXT COUPLE OF MONTHS" that I could make it to work then he would consider me again. This of course would rely on if there was even a position available. I feel like I am being discriminated against, and that it is illegal what they are saying and doing to me. But am I being logical, or is it perfectly OK what they are doing?? PLEASE HELP ME UNDERSTAND!!

The question is whether or not they would have done the same thing for someone who had a non-pregnancy medical condition. The Pregnancy Discrimination Act says you have to be treated exactly the same as if you were not pregnant. You can't be discriminated against, but you get no special privileges. So if a similarly situated employee who had a medical condition that was not pregnancy but required frequent time off would also have been refused the move, you can be refused the move. If the hypothetical other employee would have been granted the transfer, you have to be granted the transfer.

Thank you CBG. You helped me a lot. Just one thing, I don't require frequent time off. I missed one day, just as someone else would if they had a stomach flu or something. Now I have meds that remedy the situation. Can I compare myself with another employee who got sick, or do I need to compare myself to someone who has a continuous condition. (I realize I am in a continuous situation, but rarely does the sickness last the entire time.) Will I have a point if I go BACK to the boss again and point this out?? Or am I pretty much stuck? My boss is one of those people who can be very condescending, and can make you feel about yay tall. I don't want to go back to him, just to have him shoot me down yet again. I know I have to be treated just as someone else with a illness or disability, I just don't know what constitutes an illness or disability when it comes to what the law means.

Can they use the fact that I am pregnant as a reason not to allow me to move? They're pretty much telling me that they heavily considered me for the position, but were worried about the morning sickness (and it's a morning shift). Even though when I do get sick it is more intense during the afternoon and evening, and I've been making it to work for those shifts. So the only reason I'm being denied the move relates directly to my being pregnant, it has nothing to do with my ability to perform my job now, or my ability to perform the receptionist job.

Pregnancy is not considered a disability, if that helps any, and it is not covered under the ADA.

Just because you've only used one day up to now doesn't mean that's all you're ever going to need. You need to be comparing yourself to another similarly situated employee (that means one at roughly your level of job responsibilities and who has been there roughly the same length of time) who has a condition that might or might not require unexpected time off at a moment's notice.