07-30-2024
Frontier Airlines employees filed two pregnancy discrimination lawsuits against the company in 2019. Female pilots and flight attendants accused the airline of penalizing them for absences due to pregnancy and forcing them to take unpaid leaves at the end of their pregnancies. The employees tried to return to work after giving birth but gave up after they received no accommodations for them to breastfeed. Frontier allegedly refused to allow its employees to pump during working hours. Because they could not pump milk, the workers experienced pain and other medical issues. Some of the employees gave up breastfeeding to enable them to continue working.
The flight attendants settled with Frontier in 2022. Frontier agreed to allow the flight attendants to use wearable breast pumps during flights, offer lactation facilities in its base airports, and provide information about lactation facilities at other airports. Flight attendants unable to fly because of pregnancy or lactation will receive the same accommodations as other medical conditions, including leave and temporary ground duty. These employees will not be subject to disciplinary action for pregnancy-related absences.
To resolve the second lawsuit, Frontier agreed to allow pilots to pump breastmilk in the cockpits during noncritical parts of a flight using “wearable lactation technology.” According to the EEOC, Frontier is one of the first airlines to allow pilots to express breastmilk during flights. The commission hopes it will inspire other employers to accommodate pregnant and lactating employees in new ways. The pilots will also receive the benefits outlined above in the flight attendants' settlement agreement.