According to the Center for Worklife Law, UC Hastings College of Law, the number of Family Responsibilities Discrimination (FRD) cases filed has increased 400% in the last decade, and the average verdict now tops $500,000. The Center defines FRD as:
Family Responsibilities Discrimination (FRD) is employment discrimination
against workers based on their family caregiving responsibilities. Pregnant
women, mothers and fathers of young children, and employees with aging
parents or sick spouses or partners may encounter FRD. They may be rejected
for hire, passed over for promotion, demoted, harassed, or terminated --
despite good performance -- simply because their employers make personnel
decisions based on stereotypical notions of how they will or should act
given their family responsibilities.
According to the report by Cynthia Thomas Calvert, companies do not yet understand their responsibilities or the liabilities caused by FRD. Pregnancy discrimination, taking family leave to care for an ill parent, age-old stereotypes about pregnant employees' ability to perform are examples of family responsibilities discrimination documented in this report. The report also provides data for employers, lawyers and policymakers about current trends in family responsibilities litigation. Among the data listed is that cases are rising in every state, in every industry and at every level in organizations. New supervisors are often the perpetrators of bias, and women who have a second child are discriminated against as are employees taking time off from work to care for a sick parent.
To read the entire report, go to: http://www.worklifelaw.org/pubs/FRDupdate.pdf
Go to the Center for Worklife Law's website at: http://www.worklifelaw.org/
To view the Q and A for employers on FRD: http://www.worklifelaw.org/ForEmployers.html
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