Chicago Fire Department changes the way it treats pregnant women
Canada Goose Outlet Chicago Fire Department paramedic Sarah Spriesch gave birth to twins a few weeks ago. Canada Goose Outlet
Canada Goose Online The reception Spriesch gets when she returns to her ambulance duties will be a lot less than it was after her 2014 pregnancy, thanks to the legal crusade she led, with help canada goose outlet vancouver from from the American Civil Liberties Union canada goose parka outlet uk of Illinois. Canada Goose Online
canada goose store The Chicago Fire Department has dramatically altered its policy canada goose outlet store near me impacting pregnant employees and nursing mothers after the Illinois Department of Human Rights found “substantial evidence” that Spriesch was the victim of discrimination. canada goose store
canada goose uk black friday The settlement was reached, only after the ACLU followed the state investigation with a federal lawsuit that accused the fire department of discriminating against Spriesch before canada goose outlet seattle and after the paramedic gave birth. canada goose uk black friday
Amy Meek, Women’s and Reproductive Rights Project staff attorney for the ACLU, said the first round of discrimination occurred when Spriesch was placed on paid administrative leave in June 2014, immediately after telling her supervisor that she was pregnant.
She wanted to continue working canada goose outlet store calgary for at least a few more months and was physically able to do so, Meek said.
But department policy was to immediately place pregnant women on leave, depriving them of work assignments and their ability to earn thousands of dollars of supplemental pay.
Pregnant women were also required to use up all of their accumulated sick canada goose outlet buffalo and disability leave. If they needed that time later, they didn’t have it to use.
Canada Goose online The humiliation continued when Spriesch returned to work after the birth of her first child, Meek said. Canada Goose online
uk canada goose “On her canada goose outlet jackets first day back she canada goose outlet uk sale told the training instructor canada goose outlet online uk that she needed to pump. He didn’t know what a pump was and refused her break time until she was actually engorged. She was leaking through her shirt and in tears before they allowed her to take a lunch break to pump,” canada goose outlet Meek said. uk canada goose
buy canada goose jacket cheap “And because she lost her [permanent] assignment, she could canada goose outlet authentic be placed at any firehouse, based on whatever their operational needs were for each canada goose outlet legit shift. And most of canada goose outlet in montreal the firehouses didn’t have women’s locker rooms canada goose outlet in new york or any other private designated space for pumping. So, she had nowhere to pump but the dirty restrooms.” buy canada goose jacket cheap
canada goose uk shop Spriesch could not be reached for comment. canada goose uk shop
canada goose coats The new policy was implemented late last year just in time for Spriesch’s second, more complicated pregnancy with twins that required her to take an earlier leave. canada goose coats
canada goose factory sale “She made the decision of when she went on leave not her employer. And because they’ve created a separate pregnancy leave status, she’s not worried this time around that she’s using up all of her sick time,” Meek said. canada goose factory sale
canada goose uk outlet When Spriesch returns to work, the new policy will guarantee her regular breaks and a clean, private, non restroom space to pump breast milk. canada goose uk outlet
Still, Meek canada goose outlet vip said a fire department that has spent decades canada goose outlet orlando in the Dark Ages has a “long way to go” before it will be welcoming to pregnant women. She noted that many firehouses still lack separate locker rooms for women.
Fire department spokesman Larry Langford said the CFD seriously its responsibility to provide all members with adequate, equal and dignified facilities and will to improve working conditions for all in a department where nine percent canada goose outlet black friday of the workforce is female.
That the highest percentage of any big city fire department, he said.
Canada Goose Jackets about a quarter of the Department’s 100 firehouses have been upgraded with adequate facilities for nursing mothers, and a long term Equal Access Facilities Plan is being implemented with a goal to upgrade half of the firehouses in the coming months, Langford canada goose outlet shop wrote in an email. Canada Goose Jackets
Langford openly acknowledged that the city challenges in upgrading historic firehouse, some built in the 1800’s. he said, member who is not adequately served by available facilities may elect to be transferred to an upgraded firehouse. In addition, CFD has implemented a program that allows a member up to one year of full time, paid maternity leave. canada goose outlet black friday sale 61% of CFD employees have been trained in https://www.canadagoosestorevip.com the new policies and procedures. The rest will be trained by the end of the year, he said.
cheap canada goose uk Two months ago, five female paramedics filed a federal lawsuit accusing their superiors of sexual harassment. cheap canada goose uk
The suit alleged that the Chicago Fire Department encourages the illegal behavior by failing to supervise and control its officers and by intimidating and punishing women who dare to report the harassment.
canada goose policy makers are aware of and condone and facilitate [the misconduct] by their inaction, a code of silence in the CFD by which employees fail to report misconduct committed by other male officers, the lawsuit alleged canada goose.
