DELAURO: ANOTHER ASSAULT ON WOMEN WITH SUPREME COURT’S FLAWED COLEMAN RULING

Washington, DC – Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (CT-3), Ranking Member on the Labor, Health, and Human Services Appropriations Subcommittee, issued the following statement in reaction to the Supreme Court of the United States' 5-4 ruling in the case of Coleman v. Maryland Court of Appeals denying state workers legal recourse when denied medical leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act.

"This terrible decision undermines workers' rights leaving millions of state employees across the United States vulnerable to job loss in the case of pregnancy or personal illness. Nearly 20 years ago, we passed the Family and Medical Leave Act to ensure that workers, especially women, do not face a choice between keeping their jobs or taking care of themselves and their families. This decision undermines the FMLA and inaccurately characterizes the self-care provision of the law as separate from its overarching intent to address workplace inequalities.

As Justice Ginsburg nobly read to the Court in her strong dissent, ‘Over the course of eight years, Congress considered the problem of workplace discrimination against women, and devised the FMLA to reduce sex-based inequalities in leave programs. The self-care provision is a key part of that endeavor, and in my view, a valid exercise of congressional power.'

I am yet again deeply disappointed in this Court's continuing disregard for employees' rights and protections against gender discrimination in the workplace. I will continue to fight for all workers' rights to job-protected family and medical leave."