Opinion ID: 2395347
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Public Policy Claim

Text: On appeal, Duncan argues that her complaint contains a claim for wrongful discharge in violation of a public policy of not exposing pregnant women to radiation. [2] The complaint does not identify the source of the asserted public policy. However, because our standard of review requires that we make all inferences in favor of the plaintiff and the complaint refers to a public policy, we must decide if Duncan has felicitously alleged a public policy exception to the at-will employment doctrine. At oral argument, Duncan's counsel identified the source of the public policy alleged here as the District of Columbia Human Rights Act's prohibition against sex-based discrimination, including pregnancy and childbirth. D.C.Code § 1-2505 (1992). See Carl v. Children's Hospital, 702 A.2d 159, 162-163 (D.C.1997) (Terry, J., concurring, joined by Wagner, C.J., Farrell, J., and Ruiz, J.) ([T]he recognition of any public policy exception to the at-will doctrine must be solidly based on a statute or regulation that reflects the particular public policy to be applied, or (if appropriate) on a constitutional provision concretely applicable to the defendant's conduct.); cf. id. at 163 nn. 4-5, see also id. at 197 n. 2 (Steadman, J., dissenting, joined by King, J.) (acquiescing in concurring plurality opinion). Yet the Human Rights Act specifically requires that [w]omen affected by pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions shall be treated the same for all employment-related purposes ... as other persons not so affected but similar in their ability or inability to work.... D.C.Code § 1-2505(b). The act does not create a special dispensation for pregnant women, but only requires that they not be discriminated against nor denied any employment opportunity due to pregnancy. This rule is reflected in International Union, United Auto., etc. v. Johnson Controls, 499 U.S. 187, 111 S.Ct. 1196, 113 L.Ed.2d 158 (1991), in which the Court held that the employer could not discriminate against fertile female employees who may be exposed to high levels of lead during battery manufacture by refusing to allow them the opportunity to work certain jobs which may be potentially dangerous to a woman's reproductive system or fetus. Instead, the Court noted that: [w]ith the PDA [Pregnancy Discrimination Act], Congress made clear that the decision to become pregnant or to work while being either pregnant or capable of becoming pregnant was reserved for each individual woman to make for herself.... Decisions about the welfare of future children must be left to the parents who conceive, bear, support, and raise them rather than to the employers who hire those parents. Id. at 206, 111 S.Ct. at 1207. [3] In Armstrong v. Flowers Hosp., 33 F.3d 1308 (11th Cir.1994), the court, applying Johnson Controls, reiterated that the decision whether to continue in a particular job rests with the pregnant employee and not the employer, who is generally prohibited from deciding for a pregnant employee what course of action is best for her. Id. at 1316. Instead, [s]he may choose to continue working, to seek a work situation with less stringent requirements, or leave the workforce. In some cases, these alternatives may, indeed, present a difficult choice. Id. at 1315. Duncan was faced with such a difficult choice and chose not to work in the Blood Bank. Duncan has not identified a judicially cognizable public policy that imposes upon CNMC a duty to transfer Duncan to a new position or otherwise to accommodate her concerns. To the extent that Duncan has identified the public policy prohibiting discrimination on the basis of pregnancy, it militates against her cause. Given the foregoing, we hold that Duncan's complaint fails to state a claim that her dismissal for failure to work in the Blood Bank violates public policy.