EEOC Alert: Pregnancy-Discrimination Charges Surging

Pregnancy bias complaints filed with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) surged 14 percent to 5,587 last year and are up 40 percent from a decade ago. The EEOC also reports receiving 20,400 pregnancy-bias inquiries at its call center last year, the center's first full year of operation, reports The Wall Street Journal (WSJ). National Association of Working Women also reports an increase in pregnancy-bias calls on its hotline. Thirty years ago, the federal Pregnancy Discrimination Act passed, but concerns remain about how this is implemented and enforced in the workplace, based on the number of pregnancy-discrimination charges. Meanwhile, women are fed up and are calling advocacy agencies to learn their rights. "Nobody should be finding out on maternity leave that she has performance issues," Jocelyn Frye of the National Partnership for Women & Families, an advocacy group, told the WSJ. Many women who bring complaints are surprised to learn that they don't have special protection from adverse treatment and that they aren't entitled by federal law to be paid childbirth leave, reports the WSJ. This news comes just after the EEOC released data that shows discrimination charges hit a five-year high, with those based on retaliation and religion setting new records. Read EEOC Charges Bloomberg With Pregnancy Discrimination to learn more.

Vets Struggle to Find Jobs

Veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan are being welcomed by a sagging economy and dwindling job prospects. Many veterans say they still can't find decent jobs or feel pigeonholed into low-paying fitness, security or law-enforcement positions, reports the Los Angeles Times. Recent research by the Department of Veterans Affairs suggests that today's young veterans need more help making the transition to civilian jobs, given that 23 percent of veterans in 2005 were out of the work force, up from 10 percent in 2000, reports the Times. Military.com reports that more than 60 percent of employers say veterans need more help to compete with civilian applicants. And of the 81 percent of returning service members who reported feeling unprepared for job hunting, 76 percent said they didn't know how to turn military skills into civilian positions. Read how to help veterans with disabilities.

Navajo Nation Leery About Uranium Mining

As oil prices skyrocket, energy companies are turning to nuclear power, and that means drilling for uranium. Large deposits are in and around Navajo land, and the Native American nation's leaders are concerned about the uranium-drilling industry's past poor record on health and safety as it extracted tons of the ore in decades gone. Industry officials say a uranium boom could mean thousands of jobs and billions in mineral royalties and taxes for New Mexico. In 2005, the Navajo Nation banned uranium mining and milling on its land, and thousands of tribe members are receiving or seeking federal compensation for the health effects of past uranium exposure, reports The Washington Post. "We had no respirators; you'd have sweat running down your face with the uranium dust getting in your ears, nose and mouth," said Larry J. King, who surveyed mine tunnels from 1975 to 1982, to the Washington Post. "You couldn't help but swallow it." Read about former Cherokee Nation Principal Chief Wilma Mankiller in the March 2008 issue of DiversityInc magazine.

No Immigrant Labor Forces Farmer to Shut Down

With no comprehensive immigration solution in sight, Keith Eckel, a fourth-generation farmer and the owner of Fred W. Eckel Sons Farms in Clarks Summit, Pa., says he has to shut down his tomato farm, reports National Public Radio (NPR). Typically, Eckel farms 2.3 million plants per year. "We normally harvest 200,000 25-pound cartons of tomatoes," he told NPR. But harvesting requires 110 people to work in the field. Eckel says he's being forced to shut down his tomato farm because he can't find workers, and workers from Mexico and Central America fear the heightened policing of undocumented workers. "They are critical to our process. Without those harvesters, we're out of business," said Eckel to NPR. Read how immigrants help the economy.

PwC's Sydney Office Settles Discrimination Lawsuit

PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) settled a sexual-harassment lawsuit out of Federal Court in Sydney, Australia, for $11 million after a three-year legal battle with former partner Christina Rich, reports ABC News. Rich claimed she was sexually harassed by other partners, victimized for complaining and subjected to a "boys' club culture" over a five-year period up until 2004. PwC's Sydney office denied the allegations. 

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