Winter storm warnings in northern Minnesota

MPR News helps you turn down the noise and build shared understanding. Turn up your support for this public resource and keep trusted journalism accessible to all. 

Turn Up Your Support

On the presidential campaign trail, Sen. Elizabeth Warren often tells about the time she was fired from a teaching job once it was revealed she was pregnant. It sounds like an artifact from a less-enlightened era. 

 last week by a conservative media outlet,

 to point out that pregnancy discrimination is still a real threat. She urged other women to share their stories.

And respond they did — thousands of women shared their accounts of being fired or forced out once they got pregnant. Some even said they were passed over for job opportunities or promotions because their supervisors were worried they might 

It’s technically against the law. Congress passed the Pregnancy Discrimination Act in 1978. But as Warren writes, “We know it still happens in subtle and not-so-subtle ways.”

On Thursday morning, we explored what the law says. Guest host Tiffany Hanssen was joined by two experts in pregnancy discrimination to talk about the legalities involved versus the lived experience for many pregnant women in America.

Shows

Big Books & Bold Ideas with Kerri Miller

Host

Author

Can a woman be fired for being pregnant? Technically, no. But thousands of women shared stories of pregnancy discrimination this week on social media, after Sen. Elizabeth Warren was attacked for saying she was forced out of her first teaching job when she could no longer hide her pregnancy. Thursday, we heard your stories – and guest host Tiffany Hanssen spoke with two experts who discussed both the legalities and the lived experience of pregnancy discrimination.

Can a woman be fired for being pregnant? Technically, no. But thousands of women shared stories of pregnancy discrimination this week on social media, after Sen. Elizabeth Warren was attacked for saying she was forced out of her first teaching job when she could no longer hide her pregnancy. Thursday, we heard your stories - and guest host Tiffany Hanssen spoke with two experts who discussed both the legalities and the lived experience of pregnancy discrimination.

Pregnancy discrimination is illegal. But it still happens all the time.

Go Deeper.

Like this?

News you can use in your inbox