TY - JOUR
T1 - Who Is Protected? What’s Wrong ith Exclusionary Policies
AU - Kenney, Sally J
PY - 1994/4/26
Y1 - 1994/4/26
N2 - Many employers have excluded women whose infertility is not medically documented from allegedly hazardous work claiming they feared if the women became pregnant, their fetuses would be harmed. In United Auto Workers v. Johnson Controls, the Supreme Court held in 1991 that so-called "fetal protection policies" are unlawful sex discrimination. After examining four cases challenging exclusionary policies in Britain and the United States, this article unmasks and argues against the assumptions underlying such policies. By returning to well-established sex discrimination doctrine, moving away from a male norm, and reaffirming women’s right to both work and have children, the Supreme Court’s decision in UAW V. Johnson Controls is an important victory. The decision should help to break down job segregation, prompt the EEOC to act, and clear the way for addressing questions of health and safety rather than equality and difference.
AB - Many employers have excluded women whose infertility is not medically documented from allegedly hazardous work claiming they feared if the women became pregnant, their fetuses would be harmed. In United Auto Workers v. Johnson Controls, the Supreme Court held in 1991 that so-called "fetal protection policies" are unlawful sex discrimination. After examining four cases challenging exclusionary policies in Britain and the United States, this article unmasks and argues against the assumptions underlying such policies. By returning to well-established sex discrimination doctrine, moving away from a male norm, and reaffirming women’s right to both work and have children, the Supreme Court’s decision in UAW V. Johnson Controls is an important victory. The decision should help to break down job segregation, prompt the EEOC to act, and clear the way for addressing questions of health and safety rather than equality and difference.
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U2 - 10.1300/J014v13n03_10
DO - 10.1300/J014v13n03_10
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:34247790914
SN - 0195-7732
VL - 13
SP - 153
EP - 173
JO - Women and Politics
JF - Women and Politics
IS - 3-4
ER -