ACLU Reaction to Supreme Court Ruling in Coleman v. Court of Appeals of Maryland

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: (212) 549-2666; media@aclu.org

Accoring to Steven R. Shapiro, legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union. “As Justice Ginsburg notes so powerfully in her dissent, Congress passed the FMLA to address the fact that women workers, including public employees, were often fired when they needed to take time off during pregnancy and to recover from childbirth. The law was made gender-neutral because Congress understood that providing leave to women only would reinforce stereotypes and encourage employers not to hire women. Today's decision leaves women more vulnerable to sex discrimination and elevates states' rights over a woman’s right to be free from unconstitutional sex discrimination, including pregnancy discrimination."