New Health Laws Praised

The Orange County Register quoted Irvine Partner Todd Scherwin in the January 3 article “New Health Laws Praised.” The article reported on new health-related legislation in California, including a new state law that protects lactating mothers from workplace discrimination. In addition to a previous law that requires employers to allow working mothers a reasonable amount of break time to pump breast milk, employers now must also provide a private place, other than a toilet stall.  Todd said the new law forbids an employer from discriminating on the basis of sex, which includes gender, pregnancy and childbirth. The law expands the definition of “sex” to include breast-feeding. He noted: “I think employers just need to be more cognizant of making sure they’re allowing proper space and proper time and whether it’s conscious or subconscious, they’re not doing anything that would be seen as retaliation or discrimination against a mother who returns to work and needs that time to breast-feed or pump.”