Frankfort Pays $190k In Pregnancy Discrimination Settlement

FRANKFORT, IL — The village of Frankfort approved a settlement agreement for a pregnancy discrimination lawsuit filed by a Frankfort police officer at its recent village board meeting on April 1. According to a release from the ACLU of Illinois, the village will pay $190,000 to officer Jennifer Panattoni, and adopt new policies on how the department will treat pregnant employees.

The lawsuit was filed in 2017 by the ACLU of Illinois and ACLU Women's Rights Project on behalf of Panattoni, a 15-year veteran of the department. An amended complaint was also filed in federal court in September 2018.

The complaint alleged that when Panattoni was pregnant in late 2015 and tried to keep working, the police department refused to provide her with properly fitting uniforms and protective gear and ultimately forced her off the payroll and onto involuntary leave. This treatment continued during Panattoni's second pregnancy in 2018, and she was again forced on leave. The complaint alleges the department refused to modify her duties unless she accepted a 50 percent pay cut.

According to the ACLU, the agreement requires the village to adopt changes to its policies, procedures and training to provide reasonable accommodations for employees who are pregnant or recovering from childbirth. The village has also agreed to reschedule Panattoni for the training classes she was unable to attend due to being placed on leave during her first pregnancy.

Under these new polices, the department must treat pregnant officers the same as officers injured on the job when it comes to granting accommodations, the ACLU said. There must be a "task bank" of less strenuous non-patrol projects to help accommodate these officers. According to the ACLU, the department will also pay pregnant officers the same rates as officers injured on the job when they are accomodated with less strenuous work.

"I am proud that we have been able to drive these important changes at my department. Throughout two pregnancies, my goal was to keep working and serving my community," Panattoni said in a release. "I sought the same types of reasonable accommodations – like light duty and properly fitting uniforms and protective gear – that were granted to other officers who needed accommodations. No pregnant employee should be forced off the job when other reasonable accommodations are available."