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LABOR & EMPLOYMENT LAW — 7/04/08

Female crane operator had disparate impact claim for no bathroom break

A female crane operator will proceed to trial on her disparate impact sex bias claim over her employer's instruction that she urinate off the back of her crane if she needed a bathroom break, ruled a federal district court in Ohio. The crane operator testified that she was told her crane operated continuously, there was no one to give her a bathroom break and if she needed one, and that she would have to urinate off the back of her crane, although her managers denied giving those instructions. But her testimony, coupled with other evidence that crane operators worked 12 hour shifts without breaks, that cranes ran continuously and male crane operators urinated off the back of their cranes instead of taking breaks, was enough to conclude that urinating off the back of the crane was a condition of employment, said the court. (Johnson v AK Steel Corp, SDOhio, 91 EPD ¶43,216)

Further, statistical proof of a disparate impact was unnecessary, instructed the court. "[G]iven the obvious anatomical and biological differences between men and women and the unique hygienic needs of women, including those during menstrual cycles . . . the practice of requiring women to urinate off the side of a crane in lieu of restroom breaks, if true, would have a significant discriminatory impact on women," wrote the court.

For more information on this and other topics, consult CCH Employment Practices Guide or CCH Labor Relations.

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