From:
Jim Kaufman <Labsafe**At_Symbol_Here**AOL.COM>
Subject:
Re: Pregnancy and the Laboratory
Date:
Nov 14, 2005 00:46 UTC
Reply-To:
Labsafe**At_Symbol_Here**AOL.COM
Message-ID:
<legacy-2005-20051113a@ilpi.com>
In-Reply-To:
NAOSMMs,
A recent LSI feature editorial in "Speaking of Safety" dealt with this
issue.=A0 One of the key points is that the Supremes (Court not singers) hav
e ruled.=A0
In the Johnson Controls case, the US Supreme Court decided it was the
employers responsibility to protect both the mother and the unborn child by
creating a
workplace that is safe for both and discriminates against neither.
Here's the citation:
http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl?court=US&vol=499&invol
=187
This is one of the reasons why NAOSMM and other Professional Organizations
need an active EHS committee to have a clear organizational statement on thi
s
issue.=A0
Regards, ... Jim
In a message dated 11/12/2005 1:01:35 PM Eastern Standard Time,
naosmm-request**At_Symbol_Here**mailman.rice.edu writes:
> Date: Fri, 11 Nov 2005 14:05:57 -0600
> From: "Stratmann, Shawn W"
> Subject: [NAOSMM] Pregnancy policy
> To:
>
> We have just established a pregnancy policy that no one can work in the
> lab if she is pregnant due to the exposure to volatile chemicals. With
> this I have already had one adjunct state that this is discrimination to
> women and if she was pregnant she would sue. We look at it as protecting
> the mother and unborn child but she did not see it that way and claims
> that no other institution that she has worked at or knows of has such a
> policy. I know there is such a policy in industrial labs but I was
> wondering just how educational institutions deal with pregnant women?
>
> Shawn W. Stratman
> Laboratory Associate
> McKendree College
************************************
James A. Kaufman, Ph.D.
President/CEO
The Laboratory Safety Institute (LSI)
Safety in Science and Science Education
192 Worcester Road, Natick, MA 01760
508-647-1900 Fax: 508-647-0062 Cell: 508-574-6264
Email: jimkaufman**At_Symbol_Here**labsafety.org
Web Site: http://www.labsafety.org
*************************************
