Hostname: page-component-77c89778f8-m8s7h Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-20T19:54:04.319Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Fetal Protection Policies in the Workplace: Continuing Controversy in Light of Johnson Controls

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 May 2016

Robert Blank
Robert Blank*
Affiliation:
University of Canterbury, New Zealand
Get access

Abstract

Despite the Supreme Court ruling in the Johnson Controls case that fetal protection policies that exclude women from workplaces deemed hazardous to the fetus are in clear violation of the 1978 Pregnancy Discrimination Amendment, the issue of fetal health remains on the policy agenda. This article summarizes the rationale behind fetal protection policies and the current scientific evidence over workplace hazards. It also discusses the disparate court response to these policies before Johnson Controls and the confusing regulatory framework. Finally, it makes a case for including consideration of the paternal contribution to fetal injury in the workplace and calls for a balanced approach to accommodate both women's rights to employment and society's interest in healthy children.

Type
Fetal Protection
Information
Politics and the Life Sciences , Volume 11 , Issue 2 , August 1992 , pp. 215 - 229
Copyright
Copyright © Association for Politics and the Life Sciences 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Accurso, A.E.(1985). “Title VII and Exclusionary Practices: Fertile and Pregnant Women Need not Apply.” Rutgers Law Journal 17(1):95–134.Google Scholar
Armstrong, B.G., Nolin, A.D., and McDonald, A.D.(1989). “Work in Pregnancy and Birthweight for Gestational Age.” British Journal of Industrial Medicine 46:196–199.Google Scholar
Ashford, N.A.and Caldart, C.C.(1983). “The Control of Reproductive Hazards in the Workplace: A Prescription for Prevention.” Industrial Relations Law Journal 5:523–563.Google Scholar
Axelsson, G., Rylander, R., and Molin, I.(1989). “Outcome of Pregnancy in Relation to Irregular and Inconvenient Work Schedules.” British Journal of Industrial Medicine 46:393–398.Google Scholar
Bayer, R.(1982). “Reproductive Hazards in the Workplace: Bearing the Burden of Fetal Risks.” Milbank Memorial Fund Quarterly 60:633–656.Google Scholar
Becker, M.E.(1986). “From Muller v. Oregon to Fetal Vulnerability Policies.” University of Chicago Law Review 53:1219–1273.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bellin, J.S.and Rubenstein, R.(1983). “Genes and Gender in the Workplace.” In Tobach, E.and Rosoff, B.(eds.), The Second X and Women's Health. Stanton Island, NY: Gordian Press.Google Scholar
Bellinger, D., Leviton, A., Waternaux, C., Needleman, H., and Rabinowitz, M.(1987). “Longitudinal Analysis of Prenatal and Postnatal Lead Exposure and Early Cognitive Development.” New England Journal of Medicine 17:1037–1043.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Buss, E.(1986). “Getting Beyond Discrimination: A Regulatory Solution to the Problem of Fetal Hazards in the Workplace.” The Yale Law Journal 95:554–577.Google Scholar
Clement, S., Goldstein, L., Krauss, L.B., et al.(1987). “The Evolution of the Right to Privacy after Roe v. Wade.” American Journal of Law and Medicine 13(2-3):368–525.Google Scholar
Cleveland Board of Education v. La Fleur (1974). 414 U.S. 632.Google Scholar
Cohen, E.N.(1980). “Waste Anesthetic Gases and Reproductive Health in Operating Room Personnel.” In Infante, P.F.and Legator, M.S.(eds.), Proceedings of a Workshop on Methodology for Assessing Reproductive Hazards in the Workplace. Washington, DC: National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health.Google Scholar
Council on Scientific Affairs (1985). “Effects of Toxic Chemicals on the Reproductive System.” Journal of the American Medical Association 253:3431–3437.Google Scholar
Crocetti, A.F., Mushak, P., and Schwartz, J.(1990). “Determination of Numbers of Lead-Exposed Women of Childbearing Age and Pregnant Women.” Environmental Health Perspectives 89:121–124.Google Scholar
Dothard v. Rawlinson (1977). 433 U.S. 321.Google Scholar
Duncan, A.K.(1989). “Fetal Protection and the Exclusion of Women from the Toxic Workplace.” North Carolina Central Law Journal 18:67–86.Google Scholar
Elias, S.and Annas, G.J.(1987). Reproductive Genetics and the Law. Chicago: Year Book Medical Publishers.Google Scholar
Erickson, J.D., Cochran, W.M., and Anderson, C.E.(1979). “Paternal Occupation and Birth Defects.” Contributions to Epidemiology and Biostatistics 1:107–117.Google Scholar
Ericson, A., Kallen, B., Meiriko, O., and Westerholm, P.(1982). “Gastrointestinal Atresia and Maternal Occupation During Pregnancy.” Journal of Occupational Medicine 24:515–518.Google Scholar
Florida Lime and Avocado Growers, Inc. v. Paul (1963). 373 U.S. 132.Google Scholar
Funes-Cravioto, F., Zapata-Gayon, C., and Kolmodin-Hedman, B.(1977). “Chromosome Aberrations and Sister-Chromatid Exchange in Workers in Chemical Laboratories and a Rotoprinting Laboratory.” Lancet 2:322–325.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Furnish, H.A.(1980). “Prenatal Exposure to Fetally Toxic Work Environments: The Dilemma of the 1978 Pregnancy Amendment to Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.” Iowa Law Review 66:63–129.Google Scholar
Geduldig v. Aiello (1974). 417 U.S. 484.Google Scholar
General Electric Co. v. Gilbert (1976). 429 U.S. 125.Google Scholar
Goldman, A.S.(1980). “Critical Periods of Prenatal Toxic Insults.” In Schwartz, R.H.and Jaffe, S.J.(eds.), Drug and Chemical Risks to the Fetus and Newborn. New York: Alan R. Liss.Google Scholar
Grant v. General Motors Corp. (1990). 908 F.2d 1303.Google Scholar
Hatch, M.(1984). “Mother, Father, Worker: Men and Women and the Reproductive Risks of Work.” In Chavkin, W.(ed.), Double Exposure: Women's Health Hazards on the Job and at Home. New York: Monthly Review Press.Google Scholar
Hayes v. Shelby Memorial Hospital (1984). 726 F.2d 1543 (11th Cir.).Google Scholar
Hemminki, K., Mutanen, P., Saloniemi, I., and Luoma, L.(1981). “Congenital Malformations and Maternal Occupation in Finland.” Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health 35(1):5–10.Google Scholar
Hemminki, K.and Niemi, M.L.(1982). “Community Study of Spontaneous Abortions: Relation to Occupation and Air Pollution by Sulphur Dioxide, Hydrogen Sulfide, and Carbon Disulfide.” International Archives of Occupational and Environmental Health 51:55–63.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hemminki, K., Niemi, M.L., Kyyronen, P., et al.(1983). “Spontaneous Abortion as a Risk Indication in Metal Exposure.” In Clarkson, T.W., Gunnar, F.N., and Sager, P.R.(eds.), Reproductive and Developmental Toxicity of Metals. New York: Plenum Press.Google Scholar
Howard, L.G.(1981). “Hazardous Substances in the Workplace: Rights of Women.” University of Pennsylvania Law Review 129:798–845.Google Scholar
Huckle, P.(1982). “The Womb Factor: Pregnancy Policies and Employment of Women.” In Boneparth, E.(ed.), Women, Power and Policy. New York: Pergamon Press.Google Scholar
Hunt, V.R.(1975). Occupational Health Problems of Pregnant Women. Report to Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, Office of the Secretary.Google Scholar
Hunt, V.R.(1978). “Occupational Radiation Exposure of Women Workers,” Preventive Medicine 7:294–299.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hunt, V.R.(1979). Work and Health of Women. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press.Google Scholar
Infante, P.F.(1980). “Chloroprene: Adverse Effects on Reproduction.” In Infante, P.F.and Legator, M.S.(eds.), Proceedings of a Workshop on Methodology for Assessing Reproductive Hazards in the Workplace. Washington, DC: National Institute for Occupational Health and Safety.Google Scholar
Infante, P.F., Wagoner, J.K., McMichael, A. J., et al.(1976). “Genetic Risks of Vinyl Chloride.” Lancet 1:734–735.Google Scholar
International Union, UAW v. Johnson Controls, Inc. (1989). 680 F.Supp.309, rehearing en banc, 886 F.2d 871 (7th Cir.), reversed 89-1215 (U.S. Sup. Ct., March 20, 1991).Google Scholar
Johnson Controls, Inc. v. California Fair Employment and Housing Commission (1990). 267 Cal.Rptr. 158 (Cal.App. 4 Dist.).Google Scholar
Levin v. Delta Air Lines, Inc. (1984). 730 F.2d 994 (5th Cir.).Google Scholar
“Life with Mother: The Fourth Circuit Reconciles Title VII and Fetal Vulnerability in Wright v. Olin Corp.“ (1983). Alabama Law Review 34:327–338.Google Scholar
Lochner v. New York (1905). 198 U.S. 45.Google Scholar
Mattson, L.P.(1981). “The Pregnancy Amendment: Fetal Rights and the Workplace.” Case and Comment (November–December):33–41.Google Scholar
Meirik, O., Kallen, B., Gauffin, U., and Ericson, A.(1979). “Major Malformations in Infants Born of Women Who Worked in Laboratories While Pregnant.” Lancet 2:91.Google Scholar
Moelis, L.S.(1985). “Fetal Protection and Potential Liability: Judicial Application of the Pregnancy Discrimination Act and the Disparate Impact Theory.” American Journal of Law and Medicine 11(3):369–390.Google Scholar
Muller v. Oregon (1908). 208 U.S. 412.Google Scholar
Nashville Gas Co. v. Satty (1977). 434 U.S. 136.Google Scholar
National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (1988). Proposed National Strategies for the Prevention of Leading Work-Related Diseases and Injuries. Part 2. Washington, DC: Association of Schools of Public Health.Google Scholar
Nothstein, G.Z.and Ayres, J.P.(1981). “Sex-Based Considerations of Differentiation in the Workplace: Exploring the Biomedical Interface between OSHA and Title VII.” Villanova Law Review 26(2):239–261.Google Scholar
Office of Technology Assessment (1985). Reproductive Hazards in the Workplace. Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott Co.Google Scholar
Oil, Chemical, and Atomic Workers v. American Cyanamid Co. (1984). 741 F.2d 444 (D.C. Cir.).Google Scholar
Petchesky, R.P.(1979). “Workers' Reproductive Hazards and the Politics of Protection: An Introduction.” Feminist Studies 5:233–245.Google Scholar
Rawls, R.L.(1980). “Reproductive Hazards in the Workplace.” Chemical and Engineering News (February):28–30.Google Scholar
Robinson v. Lorillard (1971). 444 F.2d 791 (4th Cir.), cert. dismissed, 404 U.S. 1006.Google Scholar
Rom, W.N.(1980). “Effects of Lead on Reproduction.” In Infante, P.F.and Legator, M.S.(eds.), Proceedings of a Workshop on Methodology for Assessing Reproductive Hazards on the Workplace. Washington, DC: National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health.Google Scholar
Rosenfeld v. Southern Pacific Co. (1971). 444 F.2d 1219 (9th Cir.).Google Scholar
Ross, W.M.(1972). “Environmental Problems in the Production of Printed Circuits.” Annals of Occupational Hygiene 15:141.Google Scholar
Smith, J.M.(1977). “Congenital Minimata Disease: Methyl Mercury Poisoning and Birth Defects in Japan.” In Bingham, E.(ed.), Proceedings: Conference on Women and the Workplace. Washington DC: Society for Occupational and Environmental Health.Google Scholar
Sor, Y.(1986-1987). “Fertility or Unemployment: Should You Have to Choose?” Journal of Law and Health 1:141–228.Google Scholar
Strandberg, M., Sandback, K., Axelson, O., and Sundell, L.(1978). “Spontaneous Abortions Among Women in Hospital Laboratory.” Lancet 1:384–385.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
United Automobile Workers v. Johnson Controls, Inc. (1991). SeeInternational Union, UAW v. Johnson Controls, Inc.Google Scholar
U.S. Congress, House of Representatives Committee on Education and Labor (1990). The EEOC, TITLE VII and Workplace Fetal Protection Policies in the 1980s. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.Google Scholar
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (1986). Air Quality Criteria for Lead. Research Triangle Park, NC: Office of Health and Environmental Assessment, Environmental Criteria and Assessment Office.Google Scholar
Valentine, J.M.and Plough, A.L.(1982). “Protecting the Reproductive Health of Workers: Problems in Science and Public Policy.” Journal of Health Politics, Policy and Law 8(1):144–163.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wright v. Olin Corp. (1982). 697 F.2d 1172 (4th Cir.).Google Scholar
Yazigi, R.A., Odem, R.R., and Polakoski, K.L.(1991). “Demonstration of Specific Binding of Cocaine to Human Spermatozoa.” Journal of the American Medical Association 266:1956–1959.Google Scholar
Zuniga v. Kleberg County Hospital (1982). 692 F.2d 986 (5th Cir.).Google Scholar