JUSTICE DEPARTMENT REACHES CONSENT DECREE WITH UNIVERSITY OF NEW MEXICO TO RESOLVE ALLEGATIONS OF PREGNANCY DISCRIMINATION

WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Department of Justice today announced that it has entered into a consent decree with the University of New Mexico ("UNM") that resolves allegations of pregnancy discrimination made by three women formerly employed at UNM's Health Sciences Center.

Under the consent decree, which must be approved by the U. S. District Court for the District of New Mexico, UNM will provide a total of $135,382 to the three women, revise its policies against discrimination based on sex and pregnancy and provide anti-discrimination training to its managers and supervisors.

The consent decree was filed together with a complaint by the Justice Department alleging that UNM violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, by refusing to excuse the three pregnant women from physically dangerous aspects of the job, such as the restraint of violent psychiatric patients, even though UNM offered such accommodations to non-pregnant employees who requested them. The complaint also alleges that UNM terminated one of the three women after she announced that she was pregnant and requested to be excused from the restraint of violent patients.

“The Justice Department remains committed to ensuring that pregnant women are not subject to discrimination. Employers must provide pregnant women with the same work conditions and benefits as they provide to employees who are not pregnant,” said R. Alexander Acosta, Jr., Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights. “We commend UNM for cooperating with the Justice Department in resolving this matter.”

“Pregnant women should feel safe in their work environment. It is obvious they require equal accommodations in this situation. We are encouraged that when UNM applies the provisions of the consent decree, everyone will benefit from the changes,” said U.S. Attorney David C. Iglesias.

The three women originally filed charges of discrimination with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC"), which investigated their charges and found reasonable cause to believe that violations of Title VII had occurred. After unsuccessfully attempting to conciliate their charges, the EEOC referred their charges to the Justice Department.

The continued enforcement of Title VII has been a priority of the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division. During 2003, the Civil Rights Division opened 71 investigations under Title VII.

Additional information about the Civil Rights Division of the Justice Department is available on its website at http://www.usdoj.gov/crt/. <http://www.usdoj.gov/crt.html.>

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