Pregnant cop denied desk job, forced to take unpaid leave

(NBC News/Courtesy Trischler family)


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FLORENCE, Ky. — A heavily-pregnant cop in Kentucky is being forced to take unpaid leave after administrators denied her request to take a desk job until her baby with a rare disorder is born.

Lyndi Trischler, 30, is a patrol cop for the city of Florence and pregnant with her second child. When she was pregnant with her first, she was allowed to work an administrative job once the demands of patrol work became too much for her body to handle.

Trischler worked 10-hour patrol shifts where she had to wear a bulletproof vest and heavy gun belt. Trischler also learned her unborn son had a rare bone disorder and probably won’t live long after birth. This added stress coupled with the rigors of her job became too much for her during the month of June. Her supervisor “immediately” took her off full duty. She requested to take a desk job for the remainder of her pregnancy but was told no.

The city recently changed its rules that said employees weren’t allowed job modifications unless they got injured while working. Trischler had to stop working her physically demanding job on in June for the safety of herself and her baby. This meant using up all her vacation and sick days since she wasn’t allowed to work a desk job. Fellow officers donated 180 hours of their paid leave to help, but those have run out. On July 2, Trischler had to start taking unpaid leave.

Rights of pregnant women in the workplace
By Michael D. Stanger, labor & employment attorney at Salt Lake City's Callister Nebeker & McCullough
Highlights from the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission's Enforcement Guidance on Pregnancy Discrimination and Related Issues:
  • No discrimination against an employee that seeks to become pregnant, or an employee that is pregnant
  • Employers who do not provide contraception coverage violate the Pregnancy Discrimination Act
  • Some pregnancy conditions qualify as disabilities and employees must provide accomodations
  • Employers must provide unpaid breaks for mothers to pump breast milk
  • Employers must be able to offer "light duty" to pregnant employees

Source: cnmlaw.com

Trischler has filed a discrimination charge against the city and says their new rule is in violation of the Pregnancy Discrimination Act and the Americans With Disabilites Act. City attorney Hugh Skees told Cinncinnati.com he disagrees with the complaint.

"We've seen it," he told Cinncinnati.com. "We don't agree with it, but we respect the officer's right to bring it, and we'll follow the process in the EEOC and bring our defense."

Trischler, who has a masters degree in criminal justice, told Today.com she’d rather be working than filing complaints.

“I worked very hard to get to this point. This is the career I’ve really wanted,” she told Today.com. “I just want to get back to work.”

Trischler’s attorney, Elizabeth Gedmark, told Cinncinnati.com they’re very willing to work with the city but they’re not being very cooperative with the case.

"Here you have a police officer with a master's degree in criminal justice, obviously very qualified, very hardworking – I would think the city would do everything it could to retain somebody like that," Gedmark said.

Trischler told Today.com she has to move in with family until she finds another job.

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Tracie Snowder

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