How does the Pregnancy Discrimination Act impact employer-offered insurance plans?
The Pregnancy Discrimination Act can implicate obligations not only to its employees, but to its employees’ spouses. For instance, an employer may not provide the wives of male employees a specified level of hospitalization medical coverage for all conditions except pregnancy-related conditions. The United States Supreme Court has held that a medical plan such as this unlawfully gives married male employees a benefit package for their spouses that is less inclusive than the dependency coverage provided to married female employees.
