Carsillo v. City of Lake Worth
995 So. 2d 1118 (Fla. 4th DCA 2008)
A firefighter sued the city of Lake Worth under the Florida Civil Rights Act (FCRA), §§ 760.01-760.10, Fla. Stat. (2004), alleging pregnancy discrimination and retaliation. The trial court granted the city's motion for summary judgment, holding that the FCRA did not prohibit discrimination based on pregnancy. The firefighter appealed. The firefighter, who had requested light duty in the fire department as a result of her pregnancy, was offered a light duty assignment not within the fire department. The firefighter initially objected but ultimately returned to light duty assignments in other departments. The firefighter's suit, filed under the FCRA, alleged discrimination in that other employees with physical restrictions had been accommodated with light duty within the fire department. The appellate court found that the FCRA, unlike the federal statute, 42 U.S.C.S. § 2000e (Title VII), was never amended to specifically state that pregnancy discrimination was a form of sex discrimination. The city argued that this showed that the Florida legislature did not intend to protect pregnancy discrimination as sex discrimination. The appellate court disagreed. Because the Congress intended to prohibit pregnancy discrimination when it enacted Title VII, and because the courts construed Florida statutes patterned after federal statutes in the same manner that the federal statutes were construed, it followed that the sex discrimination prohibited in Florida since 1972 included pregnancy discrimination. Summary judgement for the employer was reversed.