A recent Seventh Circuit decision upholding a Walmart distribution center’s temporary light duty policy that excludes pregnant workers is creating urgency for the Senate to pass bipartisan legislation that would require such accommodations.

The retail giant convinced the US Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit earlier this week that its temporary light duty policy lawfully only covered workers injured on the job, and didn’t illegally exclude pregnant employees. The US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, which sued on behalf of female employees at Wal-Mart Stores East LP in Wisconsin, had argued that the policy goes against federal nondiscrimination law.

Meanwhile, Democrats in the Senate are failing to move a bill that would require employers to make reasonable accommodations for employees limited by pregnancy.

The Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (H.R. 1065) passed the House in May and cleared the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee by a 19-2 vote in August. The law would mirror protections granted under the Americans with Disabilities Act but for pregnant workers.

The PWFA has multiple Republican cosponsors and is supported by the US Chamber of Commerce and the Society for Human Resource Management, two of the top employer lobbying groups.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer’s (D-N.Y.) office didn’t immediately respond to a request for...

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