Maldonado v. U.S. Bank and Manufacturers Bank
United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
186 F.3d 759 (7th Cir. 1999)
Jessica Maldonado (plaintiff) was hired as a part-time teller at U.S. Bank (defendant), a role requiring availability six days a week especially during summer vacation coverage; days after her interview she learned she was pregnant with a July due date, and while still in training she told her supervisor Gonzalez about the pregnancy on March 3 - Gonzalez fired her the very next day. At trial, Maldonado testified Gonzalez explicitly said the firing was 'due to [her] condition,' and the Bank didn't dispute pregnancy was the reason, but argued firing her was permissible because her pregnancy would make her unavailable during the critical summer months for which she was specifically hired. The district court granted the Bank summary judgment, and Maldonado appealed.
Whether, under the Pregnancy Discrimination Act, an employer may discriminate against a pregnant employee based on its belief that the pregnancy might negatively impact her future job performance.