The Supreme Court has decided it will weigh in on the subject of the rights of pregnant employees, and will hear the case of UPS driver Peggy Young, who was ordered to go on unpaid leave when she became pregnant.

"The case is very significant because pregnant women should never have to choose between their job and their pregnancy," Lenora Lapidus, director of Women's Rights Project at the American Civil Liberties Union, told U.S. News and World Report. "And here that is exactly what UPS forced Peggy Young to do."

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In 2006, when Young became pregnant, she asked her supervisor if she could be excused from heavy lifting due to her condition. It was Young's job to deliver packages for UPS, which required her to lift objects as heavy as 70 pounds; however, she said she rarely had to lift anything over 20 pounds, which was the maximum her midwife recommended she lift while pregnant.

Young's request was denied.

As a result, Young was obliged to take a leave of absence without any pay - essentially losing her ability to earn a living for no reason other than she was pregnant. To make matters worse, Young didn't even have a health insurance when that happened. She told NBC News during an interview that medical benefits were taken away from her along with her salary, and she couldn't even avail the disability check after giving birth to her child.

Young decided to sue the company under Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1978. That law states that employers should treat pregnant employees like ordinary employees who are experiencing disability or are not capable of work.

The company won in the case favored by two lower courts saying that it didn't violate anything that causes discrimination toward pregnant women. According to UPS, it still accommodates its workers who get hurt while on the job and those who are permanently impaired, and also if they cannot get a hold of a driver's license.

Tagsemployment law, pregnant women, law, supreme court