According to statistics kept by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, there has been a 39 percent increase in the number of pregnancy discrimination charges filed since 1992, while the nation has seen a 9 percent decrease in the birth rate during that same period.
One reason for the disparity in those numbers might be wider application of the Pregnancy Discrimination Act. Passed in 1978, the PDA amended Title VII of the Civil Rights Act to make it unlawful for an employer to discriminate against an employee because of or on the basis of pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions.
