Human Rights A Day

Supreme Court hears case to decide if pregnancy discrimination is sex discrimination. Stella Bliss went all the way to the Supreme Court of Canada when she was denied benefits under the Unemployment Insurance Act because she was experiencing pregnancy-related health problems. In 1979, the Supreme Court ruled that although only women could get pregnant, any inequality Bliss experienced stemmed from “nature,” not from sex discrimination. In other words, discrimination based on pregnancy was not discrimination based on sex. Years later, Susan Brooks, Patricia Allen and Patricia Dixon were working as part-time cashiers for Safeway Ltd. in Brandon, Manitoba, when they became pregnant. Under the company insurance plan, employees were eligible to receive a portion of their wages in the event of sickness or accident. However, pregnant women were not eligible for this coverage if their disability occurred during the 17 weeks surrounding the expected delivery of their baby. All three women applied for pregnancy-related