Q: One of my female employees just announced she’s pregnant. Part of her job duties are taking X-rays and administering Nitrous Oxide. Now that she’s pregnant, I probably should remove these duties, shouldn’t I? I don’t want to be held liable if something happens with the baby.

A: In short, no, you should not unilaterally remove her duties. Reassigning an employee or stripping away core job functions simply because she is pregnant—even out of concern for safety or potential legal liability—can violate federal and state laws.

Under U.S. Supreme Court precedent, employers are explicitly prohibited from establishing “fetal protection” policies or making broad decisions to exclude pregnant workers from hazardous roles. Deciding whether to continue performing specific duties during pregnancy rests with the employee in consultation with her healthcare provider, not the employer.

Here is how these situations should be handled:

Maintain Workplace Safety Standards: Ensure all standard engineering controls and safety protocols are functioning correctly. For radiation exposure, ensure proper lead shielding and offer a declared pregnant worker a secondary fetal dosimeter badge. For Nitrous Oxide, verify that waste-gas scavenging systems and ventilation systems are compliant with safety limits.

Open the Line for Accommodation Requests: Let the employee know that you are available to support her. Inform her that if she or her healthcare provider determines she needs temporary workplace accommodations or modifications, she can submit a request.

Respond to Requests: Temporary reassignment or relief from specific tasks should only occur if the employee formally requests an accommodation. At that stage, you will partner with the employee to engage in the interactive process to determine how to move forward. It is advised to speak with an HR professional on the steps for managing these requests. 

Unilaterally altering a pregnant employee’s role can be legally categorized as an adverse action or discriminatory practice. The best course of action is to maintain a safe work environment for all employees and respond promptly if she submits a formal accommodation request.