By Jerry Zremski
The Buffalo News
WASHINGTON – The Justice Department sued Niagara County on Monday, alleging that its Sheriff’s Office discriminated against a pregnant corrections officer in 2007 by requiring her to take an unwanted leave of absence rather than transferring her to a position with no contact with inmates.
The suit, filed in U.S. District Court in Buffalo, alleges that the county discriminated against Corrections Officer Carisa L. Boddecker. Court papers filed in the case accuse county officials of violating the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which, as amended, prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex, including pregnancy.
“Employers must provide pregnant women with the same accommodations they provide to employees who are not pregnant but who are similarly able or unable to work,” said Jocelyn Samuels, principal deputy assistant attorney general for the Civil Rights Division.
Full story: U.S. sues Niagara County in corrections officer’s pregnancy bias case