EEOC AND NATIONAL PARTNERSHIP FOR WOMEN & FAMILIES TO COMMEMORATE PREGNANCY ACT

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
October 24, 2008

WASHINGTON – Naomi C. Earp, Chair of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), today announced the federal agency will hold a symposium with the National Partnership for Women and Families to commemorate the 30th Anniversary of the Pregnancy Discrimination Act (PDA) on Wednesday, Oct. 29 at 9 a.m. The event will be held at the headquarters of the National Education Association (NEA) at 1201 16th St., NW.

The keynote address on the history of the PDA will be presented by Wendy Williams, a law professor at Georgetown University. Professor Williams is well known for her work in the area of gender and law, especially concerning issues of work and family, and is the co-author of a recent casebook on gender and law. She helped draft and testified before Congressional committees on the Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1978 and the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993. Her address will be followed by two moderated panel discussions:
Panel I – “Pregnancy Discrimination Today”Kevin Russell, ModeratorPartner, Howe & Russell, P.C.; instructor, Stanford University Law School, SupremeCourt Litigation Clinic, and the Harvard Law School Supreme Court Litigation Clinic
“Current PDA Litigation”Elizabeth GrossmanRegional Attorney, New York District Office, EEOC
“Statistical Analysis of Pregnancy Discrimination Charges”Jocelyn FryeGeneral Counsel, National Partnership for Women & Families
“Stereotypes of Pregnant Women/Use of Testers in the PDA”Eden KingProfessor, George Mason University
Panel II – “Future Issues in Pregnancy Discrimination”Carolyn Wheeler, ModeratorAssistant General Counsel, Appellate Services DivisionOffice of General Counsel, EEOC
“The Face to the Case – Victims of Pregnancy Discrimination”Melvina FordExecutive Director, D.C. Employment Justice Center
“Caregiving Discrimination”Cynthia CalvertCo-Director, Project on Attorney Retention, Deputy Director & General Counsel of WorkLifeLaw at the University of California Hastings College of the Law, and solo practitioner inMaryland counseling small businesses.
“Work-Life Family Balance”Donna KleinCEO, Corporate Voices for Working Families, a national business membership organizationrepresenting the private sector on public policy issues involving working families.
“Future Legal Issues”Jocelyn SamuelsVice President, Educational and Employment OpportunitiesNational Women’s Law Center
The EEOC enforces federal laws prohibiting employment discrimination. Additional information about the Commission is available on its web site at www.eeoc.gov.
Founded in 1971, the National Partnership for Women & Families is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that uses public education and advocacy to promote fairness in the workplace, quality health care, and policies that help women and men meet the dual demands of work and family. www.eeoc.gov