A federal rule that required employers to give workers time off and other accommodations for abortions is illegal, a judge ruled on May 21.
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) went beyond a law crafted by Congress—the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA)—when it issued a rule in 2024 interpreting the law as requiring employers to provide accommodations for workers seeking abortions, U.S. District Judge David Joseph said in a 40-page ruling.
“The record before the Court clearly establishes that the EEOC has exceeded its statutory authority to implement the PWFA and, in doing so, both unlawfully expropriated the authority of Congress and encroached upon the sovereignty of the Plaintiff States under basic principles of federalism,” Joseph said….