Should you tell prospective employers if you're pregnant?

Last week, I asked my followers on Linked In whether a job seeker should tell a prospective employer that she’s pregnant. I’m often asked this by clients and there appears to be a strong majority of respondents whose answer is simply “no,” regardless of stage of pregnancy, or need for the job (i.e., you can’t pay the mortgage or the rent without a job caused by a layoff or termination for other reasons).

I have waffled back and forth on the answer to this question myself. Knowing that discriminating against job applicants based on pregnancy is illegal under U.S. Civil Rights laws and, as a lawyer, I know it would be nearly impossible to prove in a court of law that the reason a given woman wasn’t offered a job was due to pregnancy given the number of subjective factors bearing on hiring.

Knowing that, I would tend to say “no” though a significant percentage of people answered that the decision to reveal depends on the stage of the pregnancy. Second trimester? Third? Given the pandemic and business being conducted on Zoom, a significant number of new employees are hired without a personal meeting that would naturally disclose the stage of pregnancy.

I can’t help but remember talking to a man who was an expert in the way lawyers generated revenue, i.e., flat fees or hourly rates. I don’t recall why we veered into gender discrimination, but I will never forget him saying that if he had a choice to hire an equally qualified man and woman he would hire the man because “men don’t get pregnant.” I had this conversation not that long after one of the lawyers in my firm was “called up” from the Naval Reserves to serve in Iraq. His job was, of course, held for him during the time he was being of service to his country. He was, of course, lionized, not blamed.

At the time, I thought how different were firm attitudes for women who had to briefly interrupt their careers to perform the vast public service of giving birth to the next generation. There was usually grumbling in the firm about maternity leave.

So here’s my answer to this question today. There is no reason to give a prospective employer the opportunity to discriminate against pregnant women by telling them something that is medically private and protected by law. I don’t believe any prospective employee would think it necessary to reveal any medical condition that wasn’t going to affect the daily performance of their work for which they needed special accommodations though I have been told by the afflicted that they’d been advised in support groups not to disclose given the high degree of possibility that they will not be hired.

When asked in the course of this poll what a employee should say if, after they are hired, are asked “why didn’t you tell us?” My answer is to say: “Why? Would it have made a difference in your hiring decision?” The only legally correct answer to that question is “no.” In which case the employee should say: “Then I don’t see what relevance it had to my application for work.”

I understand that opinions run in many directions on this question and I’d love to hear from you. You can respond directly to this email or send an email to victoria@shenegotiates.com.