article: This is a case about the Philadelphia Police Department (PPD) failing to provide accommodations for nursing employees. On November 26, 2019, a female PPD employee filed this putative class action lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. The plaintiff sued the City of Philadelphia under the Fair Labor Standards Act, 29 U.S.C. §§ 201 <i>et seq.</i>, Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, 42 U.S.C. §§ 2000e <i>et seq.</i>, and 42 U.S.C. § 1983. Represented by private counsel, the plaintiff sought injunctive and declaratory relief, damages, and attorneys' fees. She sought a proposed class of all female police officers who had worked for the Philadelphia Police Department during the preceding three years. The plaintiff claimed that the PPD had failed to provide nursing female police officers with appropriate accommodations and had engaged in sex and pregnancy discrimination. Specifically, she alleged that the PPD had failed to comply with the Break Time for Nursing Mothers provision of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) by not providing break times or a private location for expressing breast milk (collecting and storing breast milk for use later). The plaintiff also alleged that the PPD had violated the Equal Protection Clause in creating a hostile work environment where the plaintiff class suffered from disparate treatment as a result of their sex and pregnancy status, and the PPD had violated the plaintiff class's First Amendment right to petition by retaliating against them when they tried to assert their rights. The case was assigned to Judge Michael M. Baylson. On February 3, 2020, the defendant filed a motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim. The plaintiff filed an amended complaint on February 17, 2020. The changes included explaining more specifically why declaratory and injunctive relief would be appropriate through adding new sections and more citations to case law. The amended complaint also highlighted more explicitly that the plaintiff had to pump at irregular times and in unsanitary bathrooms, or sometimes not at all, as a result of the defendant's actions. More details about the defendant's retaliatory actions were added, including dates that the plaintiff had been forced to work from home without pay. Information about the benefits of breastfeeding infants and statistics regarding breastfeeding mothers in the U.S. was also added to the factual background. On March 2, 2020, the court denied the initial motion to dismiss as moot, and the defendant filed a new motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim. On March 16, the plaintiff moved to file a supplemental complaint, and the court granted this motion on March 25. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the court also granted additional briefing time. On August 21, 2020, the defendant filed a motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim for the supplemental complaint. On November 12, 2020, the court denied the motion to dismiss for two counts: the violations of FLSA protection and Title VII disparate treatment claims. For the other six counts, the court granted the motion to dismiss. In its opinion, the court explained that the plaintiff did not establish enough of a causal connection between the plaintiff's conduct and the defendant's adverse action for FLSA and Title VII retaliation claims. For the Title VII and § 1983 hostile work environment claims, the plaintiff did not establish "severe or pervasive conduct" or "intentional discrimination." For the § 1983 disparate treatment claim, the plaintiff did not sufficiently allege any policy or custom that caused the disparate treatment. Lastly, for the First Amendment claim regarding the right to petition, the court held that the plaintiff was not speaking as a citizen on a matter of public concern, so the First Amendment did not apply. The plaintiff filed a second amended complaint on December 12, 2020. The amended complaint added Pennsylvania state law to the causes of action. It added four new counts under the Pennsylvania Human Relations Act and the Philadelphia Fair Practices Ordinance; it also removed four of the six counts that the court had dismissed: Title VII hostile work environment, § 1983 hostile work environment, § 1983 disparate treatment, and First Amendment right to petition. For the other two dismissed counts, FLSA and Title VII retaliation, specific acts from the defendant were added to the claims to establish more of a causal connection. On December 24, 2020, the defendant moved to dismiss the complaint. As of March 13, 2021, this case is ongoing.
summary: This is a case about the Philadelphia Police Department (PPD) failing to provide accommodations for nursing employees. On November 26, 2019, a female PPD employee filed this putative class action lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. The plaintiff sued the City of Philadelphia under the Fair Labor Standards Act, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, and 42 U.S.C. § 1983. Represented by private counsel, the plaintiff sought injunctive and declaratory relief, damages, and attorneys' fees. The plaintiff claimed that the PPD had failed to provide nursing female police officers with appropriate accommodations, engaged in sex and pregnancy discrimination, and violated the First Amendment right to petition. On November 12, 2020, court granted a motion to dismiss for six of the eight counts, holding that the plaintiff did not have enough of a factual basis to allege claims of retaliation, a hostile work environment, or § 1983 disparate treatment. In addition, the First Amendment protection did not apply. The plaintiff filed an amended complaint on December 12, 2020, which the defendant has moved to dismiss. This case is ongoing.