I have all the respect in the world for the men and women working at U.S. Customs and Border Protection because of the frequently dangerous jobs they perform for us by trying to protect our borders. That's particularly true in the era of the Biden-Harris border crisis. But CBP's management got themselves in some trouble this year due to some of their official (and sometimes unofficial) personnel policies, particularly when it comes to women. When female employees became pregnant, they were almost immediately treated differently. The agency apparently believed that a pregnant agent could no longer effectively perform their duties and they were placed on “temporary light duty.” Several female employees grew fed up with this and they filed a class action lawsuit against the CBP. Yesterday it was announced that the agency had reached an agreement to settle the case and pay the women a $45 million settlement. They have also agreed to implement reforms to their personnel policies. (Government Executive)
U.S. Customs and Border Protection on Tuesday agreed to a $45 million settlement to resolve a class action lawsuit that alleged the agency discriminated against pregnant employees. The agreement, which is expected to be finalized in September, also requires CBP to implement reforms to its policies regarding pregnant workers.
“Announcing my pregnancy to my colleagues and supervisor should have been a happy occasion — but it quickly became clear that such news was not welcome. The assumption was that I could no longer effectively do my job, just because I was pregnant,” said Roberta Gabaldon, lead plaintiff in the case, in a statement. “It was traumatizing, frustrating and demoralizing. My managers don’t get to start making decisions for me just because I’m pregnant. This policy was never about our abilities – it was about the agency’s outdated views on pregnancy.”
Some people might wonder what the big deal is if someone is placed on light duty status while pregnant. After all, who wouldn't want an occasional break from the daily grind, particularly when you're doing a dangerous and probably very stressful job? But as some of the plaintiffs explained, there was much more to it than just that, and being reassigned in that fashion has had negative effects on their careers and their personal lives.
First of all, the policy was not applied evenly to all workers. It turns out that employees with other short-term disabilities due to injuries unrelated to work or illness were given the option to take temporary light duty status. For pregnant employees, it was mandatory whether they wanted to or not. Women placed on that status were given far fewer opportunities for overtime, saw fewer opportunities for promotion, and were offered fewer training programs. Also, being on light duty status caused them to lose their right to carry a firearm. In some cases, the employee would have to requalify before they could carry their service weapon again and return to full duty.
CBP said that its new policies will be founded on the premise that pregnant employees are able to carry out their full duties if they wish. They will still have the option of switching to light duty status, but the choice will be left up to the women. The new policy will also implement mandatory training for supervisors on the rights of pregnant employees. I don't often get the opportunity to heap praise on federal agencies these days, but it sounds as if CBP is really doing the right thing here. It's just a shame that it took a $45 million lawsuit to make it happen.
Not being a woman (nor even playing one on TV), I can't speak directly to this situation. But it seems to me that the majority of women get around just fine during their first and even second term of pregnancy. But at the same time, it seems unlikely that anyone would look forward to chasing down a potentially armed cartel member and climbing fences or crawling through ditches when they're in the final month or two of their pregnancy. I would guess that the vast majority of pregnant border agents will opt for light duty at some point in the third trimester. Why risk the baby's health at that point?
