Seattle Public Schools sued by Washington AG over alleged 'illegal' treatment of pregnant, nursing employees

The Washington State Attorney General’s Office is suing Seattle Public Schools over allegations of repeated illegal treatment of pregnant and nursing employees.

The civil rights lawsuit, filed in King County Superior Court on Tuesday, claims Washington’s largest public school district routinely failed to provide reasonable accommodations to pregnant and nursing staffers as required by state law — including flexible bathroom breaks, modified work schedules, and the ability to sit down more frequently.

In one instance, according to the complaint, an employee was unable to sit during her entire workday while eight months pregnant. In others, workers describe pumping break times and arrangements being “frequently disregarded.”

Those missed pumping breaks caused workers pain and “serious health issues” like clogged ducts, mastitis, and difficulty breastfeeding, according to the lawsuit. As a result, “at least one employee felt as though they had no choice but to take leave to continue breastfeeding.”

When nursing workers were given spaces to pump, the lawsuit claims they would often be “dirty, unventilated storage closets, sometimes with bugs" that are not private, so employees “were frequently walked in on while expressing breast milk.”

The lawsuit also claims the district lacks a policy for handling pregnancy accommodation requests, and accuses the district of retaliating against employees who requested such accommodations with negative performance reviews, and by “admonishing” employees for having doctors appointments and removing them from “preferred classroom assignments.”

In addition, the complaint alleges some workers were wrongfully unpaid or went without benefits during or immediately after their pregnancies.

“These employees suffered mentally, physically, and financially because of the school district’s actions,” Attorney General Nick Brown said in a press release Tuesday. “The Legislature has been clear that employers must accommodate the health needs of their pregnant and nursing workers, which is why Washington has laws banning employers from doing what Seattle Public Schools did to its employees.”

The Attorney General's Office said Tuesday these practices have affected workers across several schools since at least 2021 — and they violate the state’s anti-discrimination laws and the Healthy Start Act, the state’s civil rights protections for pregnant employees.

The office said it attempted to resolve these concerns with the district before filing the suit, but “those discussions were unsuccessful.”

In a statement Tuesday afternoon, Seattle Public Schools said it had not been formally served a copy of the complaint, but that it will "carefully review and respond to the allegations."

"Seattle Public Schools takes these issues seriously and remains firmly committed to a welcoming workplace that upholds the civil rights of all employees," the district said.