I work for a small law firm as a legal assistant. I took maternity leave in October of 2003 which was unpaid and I was required to use all of my vacation and sick time for this leave of absence.

My question comes in when I learned that my co-worker, who is currently on maternity leave, is being paid full pay for her time off and she is not being required to use any of her sick time or vacation hours.

Is this legal? Am I being discriminated against? Am I entitled to reinstatement of my sick/vacation time and back payment for my unpaid maternity leave?

I should also mention that she is getting 8 weeks off when I was forced to return after 6 weeks. Is this legal?

It is only illegal if you believe that you are being discriminated against on the basis of your race, religion, age, national origin, disability or in retaliation for filing a complaint of the same. (Since you and she are of the same gender and you are both pregnant, the discriminating factors of pregnancy and gender are not applicable here.)

If no discrimination on the basis of the factors listed above exists, then you do not have a recourse to seek back pay, etc. Your employer is within its rights.

Let me know if you have any other questions.