An employee arranges shopping carts in front of the logo of Walmart outside a store. Picture taken February 12, 2018. REUTERS/Daniel Becerril
(Reuters) - Walmart Inc's former policy of giving easier assignments to warehouse workers injured on the job while denying them to pregnant employees was not discriminatory, a U.S. appeals court said on Tuesday in dismissing a U.S. civil rights agency's lawsuit against the retail giant.
A unanimous three-judge panel of the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said Walmart had shown that its 2014 policy reserving lifting restrictions and other "light duty" for employees with work-related injuries applied equally to all workers, including pregnant ones.
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) in a 2018 lawsuit had accused Walmart of discriminating against pregnant workers at a Menomonie, Wisconsin warehouse by denying their requests for restrictions on lifting and other physical tasks.
The ruling affirmed a Wisconsin federal judge's decision granting summary judgment to Walmart.
Walmart and the EEOC did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Walmart has denied wrongdoing and said in court filings that it extended its light duty policy to pregnant workers in 2017.
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