1. Issues: Whether Janet should be allowed extra time on break to preform her required
breast pumping for her new baby. Whether or not Saucy Wings should be able to screen
potential employees asking if they are married or plan of becoming pregnant within the
next two years with the intention of not hiring those who plan of becoming pregnant.
Whether or not Janet should be held responsible for the waitress serving the breast milk
that was in the cooler.
2. Facts:
a. Identify facts FOR issue :
1) Janet has been a good employee of Saucy’s for over two years and has not ever had an
issue in the past.
2) Janet had a doctor’s note verifying that she needed the extra break time for her breast
pumping. Management denied her these breaks that were ordered by a medical
professional.
3) Janet was not the one who served he breast milk to the customer. The waitress should
have been able to easily tell the difference between the yellowish colored breast milk that
would have been in small bottles and a regular jug of white cow’s milk.
4) Saucy’s has begun actively screening potential employees in interviews, asking if they
are married or plan on having children in the next two years. They have been specifically
discriminating against married women and expectant mothers.
5) Janet was terminated due to actions that were not her own, and the entire situation could
have been prevented if she was just granted the breaks that her doctor recommended for
her.
b. Identify facts AGAINST issue:
1) Breast milk was served to a customer after it was left in the restaurant cooler.
2) Janet was late back from her break after she was advised she would be terminated if she
did so.
3) The chain of restaurants is small and cannot afford to pay the employee for extra break
time.
4) Janet could choose to feed the child formula instead.
5) They had worked with Janet in the past and granted her four weeks’ pregnancy leave,
but in the opinion of Saucy’s she was now asking for too much by asking to receive an
extra thirty minutes’ break.
3. Identify relevant laws and regulations:
– US Federal law: The Pregnancy Discrimination Act prohibits discrimination on the basis
of pregnancy. An employer may not fire or demote an employee simply because she is
pregnant, nor may an employer require a woman to stop working due to pregnancy if she is
