I am about 5 months pregnant and work as a chemist, I was a temporary employee for 5 months and have not passed my 1 year anniversary at the company as a full-time permanent employee.

I notified my supervisor as soon as I was sure I was pregnant to see what my options were to be removed from the lab for the duration of my pregnancy. I work with hazardous chemicals that are extremely harmful to an unborn child. I was instructed to get a note from my doctor stating what my limitations should be.

I went the next day I got the note stating "Avoidance of exposure to chemicals. Please limit activity to documentation." Presented a copy to HR and my department head the following day. That same day I was removed from the lab and made documentation reviewer. I have been in that same position from that day on.

This week another woman in the lab has announced she is pregnant and went to her doctor and got a similar letter. I have been told by my supervisor that she and I would both be presented with choices and we would have to choose individually what would be best for us. Since they are unwilling to allow us to split the reviewer position between us, with one of us moving to second shift and the other remaining on first shift. We are both going to be placed in the lab and given the choice to wear disposable respirator masks or not. I do know that they can only make it mandatory for us to wear the respirators if they pay for us to recieve medical screenings that include a lung capacity test and a chest x-ray to verify there are no problems preventing us from wearing the respirators.

Now that this background has been given, my question is this. Do I have any legal recourse other than to quit or go on unpaid FMLA for the remainder of my pregnancy? And if I have to go on FMLA to protect myself and my baby, then go on disability for my maternity leave, what protection do I have from being terminated as soon as I go back? Can they force me to submit to an x-ray if I am pregnant? I am currently waiting for some information from a vendor friend of mine about the reliability of disposable respirators, their usage life since they are all listed as 'limited use', requested a list of what chemicals are filtered out and lastly information about if there are any medical limitations from wearing them.

I had another meeting with my HR department today and was told that upon furhter review my original doctor's note was too vague. I was told by the HR department they pulled a 'few' of the MSDS's from the lab and did not believe upon reviewing those MSDS's that there is still any risk to myself or my baby.

I asked which MSDS's were pulled and was told by the HR rep I was speaking with that they weren't sure which ones. They stated that the PPE (Personal Protection Equipment) provided by the company (gloves, safety glasses, and fume hoods) were more than sufficient to allow me to return to the lab and begin testing. I stated then that it's not only the chemicals that I work with that are an issue, I can very easily work to try and confine my activities to a fume hood, but that I work with 35 other people that don't work within hoods and have open chemicals on their desks. In our lab all of our desks are all together no seperation.

I was told that I would be back in the lab on Wednesday unless my doctor could provide me with a more detailed note specifying why I am not to be back in the lab for testing and why PPE wouldn't be sufficient.

After contacting a vendor of disposable respirators I was told that they work for nuisance level vapors and 'should' work on all organics. The duration of use would depend on the strength of the vapors. But my company has never tested vapor levels within the lab.

Something I neglected to mention in my original post is that three years ago my company settled a lawsuit out of court because a woman who was pregnant and not removed from the lab at her doctor's request lost her baby at 6 months.

I have a new appointment with my doctor on Monday to take him the MSDS's again so he can write a more detailed note. But I need to know if I should be contacting a labor attorney or skip that step and go straight onto the state labor department. Keep in mind that I am not the only person in this situation and the other woman and I would like to know our options.

It is entirely reasonable for your employer to make sure that you have a medical reason to be out of the lab for the next few months before granting the accommodation. Take the MSDS to your doctor and see what he or she says. Remember that your employer isn't required to treat you any differently than any other employee with a temporary medical restriction.

I can completely understand your reluctance to being exposed to chemicaks while pregnant and only you can decide ultimately what you are comfortable with. However, if the chemicals you work with or the PPE your employee provides are reasonable to keep you safe, then unfortunately your fears about what might be aren't enough to require them to assign you to another position if they wouldn't for someone else with a different medical condition but the same fear.

Bear in mind too that there are many reasons that something could go wrong in a pregnancy, not just workplace exposures. Just the same, there are plenty of babies subject to less than ideal conditions that are born healthy and without incident. You (and the other mom-to-be) have to decide what you are comfortable with and what your doctor's recommend. Upon reading the MSDS your doctor might very well tell you that you are not putting yourself or the baby at any risk by working. That is something you will have to discuss carefully with him.

both myself and my co-worker have already presented our doctor's notes to HR. My doctor had written the first note with copies of my MSDS's and a full job description.

Since my being placed as a document reviewer was nothing new, there was already a person in that position that had been asking for a break for several months. I believe that my employer is working backwards at the "Not treating people differently" by reopening my case due to my co-worker's news and putting us both in the lab and putting the other person back on the reviewer position.

If both myself and my co-worker have detailed notes explaining why we can't safely work in the lab for the remainders of our pregnancies, can our employer force us onto FMLA? And since FMLA only allows for 12 weeks of unpaid leave and we both have several months left in our pregnancies are our jobs possible to be lost? We are still able to perform a portion of our job duties (documentation reviewer) and since prior to my pregnancy there was someone with our exact job description and title in that role.

Our major concern isn't about if she and I handle our chemicals safely, or wear our PPE. The issue is that we work around so many others that don't want to use fume hoods and leave beakers and bottles on their desks, allow waste bottles to over flow allowing vapors to enter the air. Not to mention not every task that we need to do allows us to work within a hood at safe operating height. You can't lift a 2 foot cylinder to pour into a 4 foot tall bottle with only an 18 inch opening. Does that make it more of a workplace situation (OSHA)than our own use of PPE?

Unfortunately, your employer is not obligated to offer you a modified position. They really are not obligated to displace someone else in order to do so. No law requires that.

Now if they regularly displace the reviewer for those who have other temporary medical conditions of a similar duration, then they can't make an exception and not just for those who are pregnant. But, conversely, they aren't obligated to do so because you are pregnant.

If you can not perform your job safely according to your doctor, then yes, they can put you in FMLA. You still only get 12 weeks of leave by law, but you should check with your employer. Some will extend the time with a general leave of absence.

I appreciate your information.