It is an unfortunate reality that, in the US, not all men are considered equal, especially when one of those men is a woman. Feminist theory and action may have carried us far, but it hasn't yet carried us far enough. The age-old problem persists: Women simply are not treated the same way as men in the American workforce. Women on average get paid thirty percent less than the men working across from them on the assembly lines, are sexually harassed by their supervisors and managers, get fired when they take time off from work to give birth to and nourish children and, there's not a whole lot we can do about it. Or is there? At best, the above types of practices are merely unlawful. At worst, they are downright illegal. In either case, they may provide the aggrieved with a viable cause of action against the person or entity so blatantly offending our nation's women and disregarding their rights in the workplace-but only a qualified attorney can determine if a cause of action exists and whether or not it is practical to pursue it. A co-founding partner of the New York boutique law firm of Tuckner, Sipser, Weinstock & Sipser, LLP, who has zealously represented clients for more than three decades, Jack Tuckner is, indeed, a qualified attorney. But, in his three-part series, Women's Rights in the Workplace, Tuckner does not commit himself to readers as an attorney to a client. Rather, he acts more like a reporter, whose duty is not to advise but to inform his readers. In each of the three books in the Women's Rights in the Workplace series, Tuckner presents resources, opinions, and information designed to educate readers on the facts, legal issues, and applicable laws surrounding some of the chief concerns women face in the modern, albeit outmoded, American workplace. The first installment in the series focuses on something that is illegal in every state in the union, but is still thriving in workplaces all across the country-pregnancy discrimination. Women's Rights in the Workplace: Pregnancy Discrimination is a guide to help answer the frequently asked questions regarding pregnancy and your workplace rights, addressing issues such as identifying pregnancy discrimination at play; understanding pregnancy as a protected status; the best way to inform your employer that you are pregnant; and applying for maternity leave. It goes on to confront post-pregnancy issues, including expressing breast milk at work and your employer's obligation to treat you as a temporarily disabled employee should you suffer any complications or impairments related to pregnancy and/or childbirth. Tuckner's text is a direct, easy-to-follow statement of rights to which any working woman can turn for a concise presentation of what she needs to know if working while pregnant. It's a book that readers will want to share with mothers, sisters, daughters, wives, and girlfriends, to equip them with the tools to ensure that their careers are not adversely affected by employers who look at pregnancy as an inconvenience. Don't let your employer deceive you regarding your rights while pregnant. Don't think you just have to put up with negative treatment; and, please, don't ever think the fact that you are with child is reasonable cause for your boss to fire you. You do have rights-and Women's Rights in the Workplace: Pregnancy Discrimination can help you understand them. Upcoming installments in the Women's Rights in the Workplace series include guides on sexual harassment and pay disparity.
About the Author: Jack Tuckner is the co-founding partner of Tuckner, Sipser, Weinstock & Sipser, LLP, a New York City Women's Rights in the Workplace law firm representing employees facing workplace inequality and discrimination. Tuckner concentrates his specialized practice on sex and gender cases including pregnancy discrimination, sexual harassment, gender pay disparity, and sexual orientation discrimination. Tuckner has an extensive background of compassionately representing the rights of the under-represented that stretches back to the 1980s, when he worked as a public defender in the Bronx. Worn down by the corruption and racism endemic in the criminal justice system, Tuckner shifted to a civil rights practice in 1991, after the Clarence Thomas Supreme Court appointment and sexual harassment of women in the workplace was brought to the forefront of our thinking. It was then that he dedicated his professional life to raising the status of working women through advocacy, litigation, and education.