Post Wire Services
May 22, 2008
The state's Department of Correctional Services must pay out nearly $1 million to nearly two-dozen female officers who were hurt on the job and then had their workers'-compensation pay slashed when they had babies.
The settlement is the result of a federal lawsuit by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission on behalf of 23 officers who claimed they suffered discrimination by being forcibly transferred to maternity leave after they gave birth.
The benefits for new moms are significantly lower that the benefits for employees who are injured while working.
"Discrimination against pregnant women in the workplace is a violation of their civil rights," said US Attorney Michael Garcia, whose office filed the lawsuit in Manhattan federal court last year.
The department agreed to pay $972,000 in damages, but was not required to admit to wrongdoing.
The department must also implement new policies.
