The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) recently has been hit with many newly filed cases that allege discrimination based on caregiver status. The cases involve, for example, a police officer who was not promoted because she had young children at home, a man who was fired for taking time off to care for his sick father, a class action case against an employer that discriminated against workers who had applied for FMLA leave, and a case filed by a man who took leave time to take care of his elderly parents. Caregiver discrimination, which is officially known as family responsibility discrimination, or FRD, has caused some experts to suggest that the EEOC should create guidelines that are specifically aimed at defining and outlining the elements of FRD.
Others argue that there really is no such thing as FRD and that each case must be treated for what it really is, that is, gender discrimination, age discrimination, disabilities discrimination, family leave discrimination, or some other form of specifically delineated discrimination. What existing statutes could be called upon to handle FRD cases, even if those cases must go by another, more traditional name?
See Tresa Baldas , "EEOC Looks at Caregiver Bias: Suits Involving Family Care Rise," The National Law Journal, May 21, 2007, pp. 1 and 18.