Frontier pilots and flight attendants are re-suing the airline for discrimination. According to the plaintiffs, the airline discriminated against them during and right after pregnancy.
Frontier was also sued in 2017 over similar discrimination allegations. But for this lawsuit, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) in Colorado re-filed the case against the Denver-based airline.
The women in the lawsuit claim that Frontier didn’t offer reasonable accommodations when they were pregnant or breastfeeding.
ACLU Colorado said, “Frontier has penalized flight attendants for absences during their pregnancies, and forces both pilots and flight attendants onto unpaid leave at the end of their pregnancies with no alternatives.” The women also claim that the airline prohibited them from pumping while they were on duty.
ACLU produced a video wherein Brandy Peck, a pilot, explained the reason why they are filing a lawsuit.
She said, “I asked, you know, can I pump in the lavatory when my flights were too long to wait to pump after I landed. The only answer I received was, ‘We cannot designate the lavatory as a pumping area.’ Just trying to find a place to let down to pump so I wasn’t in pain and I wasn’t distracted was a tough experience.”
Stacy Rewitzer who is a Frontier flight attendant had a similar case with Frontier. She gave birth to her son a year ago and wanted to come back to work. However, Frontier’s failure to accommodate her stops her from doing so.
She said, “I asked for either a place to breast pump on the plane other than the restroom or accommodate me… I asked for a ground assignment.” Rewitzer is currently on unpaid medical leave.
Frontier Denies Alleged Pregnancy Discrimination
Frontier denied the allegations made against them by the women. In a statement, it said, “Frontier Airlines has strong policies in place in support of pregnant and lactating mothers and remains committed to treating all of its team members equally and fairly. Frontier offers a number of accommodations for pregnant and lactating pilots and flight attendants within the bounds of protecting public safety, which is always our top priority. Frontier denies the allegations and will defend vigorously against these lawsuits.”
