First of all...20 lb lifting limit??? WHAT THE HECK? If she was a normal, low risk, healthy young woman who was presumably quite used to lifting more than that, why in the heck did her OB give her such a low weight restriction? That is insane. If shed had a toddler at home she wouldnt have even been able to put said toddler in a high chair or crib. Lets make some noise about this absolutely non-evidence based recommendation from the doctor! As an advocate for pregnancy rights...there is a huge part of me that hopes she wins. HOWEVER...as someone who has managed Workers Compensation cases (on the job injuries) and off the job injuries, I completely understand why employers are hesitant to accommodate job restrictions for employees who were injured off the job or who have work restrictions due to non-work related conditions. The problem that employers face is what is known as the egg shell theory. The gist of it is, if an employee gets injured on the job, the employer is responsible to pay through the Workers Comp system for treatment to COMPLETELY heal the employee--and pay a portion of the employees wages if the employee is out of work. Even if the employee was an egg shell and thus easily broken. And unlike short term disability leave payments, Workers Comp payments can go on indefinitely. So employers dont really want to have those egg shell employees because they could end up having to pay a lot of money in Workers Comp.
Posted on: Tue, 04 Nov 2014 20:47:44 +0000