Is unwed employee entitled to maternity leave?

By Raymond Dreyfack -- Plant Engineering, 12/1/1999

The term "big with child" didn't apply to maintenance department Supply Room Attendant Ann Clement. Her pregnancy barely showed.

Ann was in no hurry to request maternity leave. She waited until the eighth month.

"You might have given me more notice," Foreman George Schultz groused.

Ann shrugged.

The tightlipped supervisor remarked, "I don't recall hearing that you got married."

"Maybe that's because I didn't," Ann snapped. "Whether I'm married or not is none of your business."

Schultz, staunchly conservative from his crew cut to his morality, snapped back. "In that case, you're out of luck. Unwed employees aren't covered by our maternity leave policy."

"Sez who? "

"Sez me."

"We'll see about that." Ann threatened to sue for discrimination.

Question: If Ann follows through, do you think she will win?

Larkin's decision: When Schultz filled in his boss on Ann's threat, Plant Engineer Arnold Larkin replied, "You'd better reread the policy manual. If Ann sues, she's almost certain to win. Your refusal of maternity leave is a clear case of discrimination. Not only that. In the light of modern times, granting her the leave is clearly the right thing to do."