Focus story exercise

Lillian Garland does not appear to have any physical disability whatsoever. She is playing with her five-year-old daughter in their living room and looks like any other young mother. And yet in 1981, Garland lost her job on the basis of a very popular medical condition which is still legally described as a "disability". A condition that 55 million working American women might face at some point in their lives. Garland was pregnant. She became pregnant while she worked as a receptionist at the California Federal Savings and Loan Association in LA and when she was ready to go back to work, six weeks later, her employer told her the position had been filled and refused to offer her another job.
The bank's action violated the 1978 California Fair Employment and Housing Act, which states that employers must provide up to four months unpaid leave for any "female employee affected by pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions.' Garland sued California Federal under theCalifornia law and the U.S. Supreme Court voted 6-2 Tuesday to uphold it. But the ruling came five years after the birth of Garland's baby.