Pregnancy Discrimination in Maryland

Pregnancy Discrimination in Maryland: Your Rights Under State and Federal Law

If you work in Maryland, you’re protected from pregnancy discrimination under federal law (the PDA and the newer PWFA) and Maryland’s own Reasonable Accommodations for Disabilities Due to Pregnancy Act — a state law that’s been on the books for over a decade longer than the federal accommodation right. For the general framework covering pregnancy discrimination in every jurisdiction, see our Pregnancy Discrimination overview.

Maryland Required Pregnancy Accommodations a Decade Before Federal Law Caught Up

In 2013, Maryland enacted the Reasonable Accommodations for Disabilities Due to Pregnancy Act (codified at Md. Code Ann., State Gov’t § 20-609), effective October 1, 2013 — a full ten years before the federal Pregnant Workers Fairness Act took effect in 2023.

Maryland acted before the federal courts had sorted this out: the U.S. Supreme Court would not address when employers must accommodate pregnant workers, in Young v. UPS, until 2015 — two years after Maryland’s legislature closed the gap directly.

Under Maryland’s law, if a pregnant employee requests a reasonable accommodation for a disability caused or contributed to by pregnancy, the employer must explore all possible means of providing it, including:

Changing job duties or work hours
Relocating the employee’s work area
Providing mechanical or electrical aids
Transferring the employee to a less strenuous or less hazardous position
Providing leave

The employer may require a health care provider’s certification of the medical need, timing, and expected duration — but cannot deny the accommodation without exploring these options and showing undue hardship.

Maryland's Employer Coverage

This accommodation duty applies to employers with 15 or more employees — the same threshold as the federal PWFA and Title VII, and narrower than DC’s 1-employee threshold.

Related Protection: The Right to Breastfeed

Separately, Maryland law protects a mother’s right to breastfeed her child in any public or private location where she and the child are authorized to be — a related but distinct protection worth knowing about alongside workplace accommodation rights.

How Long Do You Have to File a Claim in Maryland?

Administrative complaint with the Maryland Commission on Civil Rights (MCCR): generally 300 days from the discriminatory act — extended from the previous 180-day (six-month) deadline by a 2021 law aligning Maryland’s deadline with the federal EEOC deadline.
EEOC charge (for federal PDA or PWFA claims): also 300 days, since Maryland has a state agency enforcing its own anti-discrimination law.
Maryland generally requires exhausting the administrative process (MCCR or EEOC) before filing a civil lawsuit under FEPA — unlike DC, which allows filing directly in court.
Harassment claims specifically: 2 years to file with MCCR, measured from the last incident of harassment.

What Counts as Pregnancy Discrimination in Maryland?

Pregnancy discrimination can include:

Refusal to hire, promote, or fairly compensate someone because of pregnancy or a related condition
Failure to explore reasonable accommodation options for a pregnancy-related disability
Refusing to transfer an employee to a less strenuous position when your employer’s own policy would allow it for other temporarily disabled workers
Retaliation against an employee who requests an accommodation or reports pregnancy discrimination

What Compensation Can You Recover?

Workers who successfully bring a pregnancy discrimination or accommodation claim in Maryland may be entitled to:

Reinstatement in your position
Back pay and front pay
Compensatory damages, including for emotional distress
Punitive damages, where the employer acted with actual malice or ill intent
Attorney’s fees and costs

Note on damages: Maryland’s compensatory and punitive damages under FEPA are generally capped at levels mirroring Title VII — ranging from $50,000 to $300,000 depending on employer size — narrower than the DCHRA’s uncapped damages available to DC workers.

Talk to a Maryland Pregnancy Discrimination Attorney

Maryland’s pregnancy accommodation law has protected workers for over a decade, but many employers still aren’t fully compliant. If your employer denied you an accommodation without genuinely exploring the alternatives, you may have a strong claim.

Or call 301.245.3035 · Intake@WilkenfeldLO.com

This article provides general information and is not legal advice. Contacting us does not create an attorney-client relationship.

Reviewed by Ari Wilkenfeld, Esq. (DC Bar No. 461063; MD Bar No. 9806240300). Ari has over 27 years of experience litigating in federal and state courts, and before the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB), and various arbitration panels. Ari has been recognized by Esquire Magazine as “a famously determined Civil Rights lawyer” and by the New York Post as “a high powered DC Lawyer.” Last updated: August 28, 2026.