State Senate bill would extend window for pregnancy discrimination complaints

Keiser sponsor of bill

  • Friday, February 14, 2020 11:09am
  • News
State Senate bill would extend window for pregnancy discrimination complaints

A bill passed Thursday by the state Senate in Olympia with a broad bipartisan majority would extend the statute of limitations for filing a pregnancy discrimination complaint from six months to one year.

Senate Bill 6034 would update the Washington Law Against Discrimination to give a pregnant woman or new mother more time to file a complaint with the Washington Human Rights Council.

“It takes nine months or more to have a baby, but right now, expectant mothers only have six months to file a discrimination complaint,” said Sen. Karen Keiser, D-Des Moines, the sponsor of the bill, in a State Senate Democrats news release. “That doesn’t make sense.”

The issue received national attention in October with the publication of a Fast Company article about the discrimination faced by Chelsey Glasson, a Washingtonian who worked at a major technology company in Seattle.

Studies show that mothers are half as likely to be called back for interviews as non-mothers, and mothers who are hired are likely to be offered an average of $11,000 less per year in salary.

Having passed the Senate by a vote of 38-9, SB 6034 now moves to the House of Representatives.


Talk to us

Please share your story tips by emailing editor@kentreporter.com.

To share your opinion for publication, submit a letter through our website https://www.kentreporter.com/submit-letter/. Include your name, address and daytime phone number. (We’ll only publish your name and hometown.) Please keep letters to 300 words or less.

More in News

Photos from the United States Attorney's Office Western District of Washington press release.
Kent man arrested in connection to violent drug trafficking gang investigation

Law enforcement seized more than 20 kilograms of fentanyl, 60 firearms, and more than $130,000 in cash.

Courtesy Photo, King County
Son accused of fatally shooting mother’s boyfriend in Kent back in jail

Dondre Butler has 3 violations in 13 months of electronic home detention after charged with murder in 2022

t
Kent Police targeted street patrols result in arrest of two felons

One driver spotted in a vehicle with no plates; another driver reportedly in a stolen vehicle

t
Kent cold case murder suspect back in state after governor’s warrant | Update

Kenneth Kundert fought extradition from Arkansas after August arrest in 1980 killing of Dorothy Silzel

t
City of Kent eyes November opening for Reith Road roundabouts

Two more roundabouts will bring total in city to six; three more in future plans

t
Kent-based Puget Sound Fire honors this year’s 20 retirees

17 firefighters and 3 staff members retire; firefighters served between 24 and 35 years

t
Pedestrian dies in Kent after being struck by a vehicle | Update

Des Moines man, 61, identified; reportedly tried crossing highway late at night but wasn’t in a crosswalk

t
‘Drivers going too fast’ led to 45-vehicle collision in Kent on I-5

State Patrol says drivers need to ‘slow down;’ nobody seriously injured in Sunday afternoon incident

T
Sound Transit to feature glass art in Kent at Star Lake Station

Part of agency’s light rail art program at two stations in Kent and one in Federal Way

Emergency vehicles respond Oct. 21 to the State Route 18 crash in Maple Valley that killed a Kent baby. COURTESY PHOTO, Puget Sound Fire
Federal Way man faces vehicular homicide charge in death of Kent baby

19-year-old also charged with vehicular assault for injuring boy’s mother in SR 18 crash

t
Kent mother arrested after reportedly driving drunk with baby in vehicle

22-month-old baby uninjured after witnesses report woman asleep at the wheel and blocking traffic

Puget Sound Fire, King County Medic One, and Washington State Patrol on location of the accident. Photo from Puget Sound Fire X account
Baby dies in crash on SR 18

Incident occurred at about 2:58 p.m. Oct. 21.