The employer had a paper trail - and a backlog that reshaped her job while she was on leave
A New York appeals court rejected a pregnancy discrimination case from a worker fired after she would not commit to a maternity return date.
The Appellate Division, Second Department, affirmed the dismissal of a former employee's discrimination and retaliation claims against the New York County Lawyers Association on July 29, 2026.
The case turned on a familiar HR problem: what to do when someone on leave will not commit to coming back.
According to the decision, the employee took pregnancy-related leave in April 2016. While she was out, the association changed her role from full time to part time. In August 2016, it repeatedly asked when she planned to return. She did not give an exact date. On August 9, 2016, the association terminated her employment, effective September 8, 2016, at the end of her leave.
Nearly three years later, on August 7, 2019, she sued. She alleged discrimination and retaliation under two laws New York HR teams know well: the state Human Rights Law and the New York City Human Rights Law. The city law is the tougher of the two for employers. Under it, discrimination must "play no role" in an employment decision - a lower bar for workers to clear.
The association asked the court to end the case before trial, a step called summary judgment. In July 2024, the Supreme Court in Kings County agreed and dismissed the complaint. The employee appealed.
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