Hall, then a sales secretary in Nalco’s Chicago office, took one leave of absence to undergo an IVF treatment, and when that was unsuccessful, she requested another leave to undergo a second treatment, according to the 7th Circuit decision. Thus, contrary to the district court’s conclusion, Hall was terminated not for the gender-neutral condition of infertility, but rather for the gender-specific quality of childbearing capacity,” said the court, which remanded the case for further proceedings. This decision “does open up a new potential source of complaints by employees, and employers are going to want to be sensitive to that,” said Paul Mollica, a plaintiff attorney with Meites, Mulder, Mollica & Glink in Chicago. She said along with the 3rd Circuit’s Jane Doe decision, this decision “creates extra protection for women who go through these procedures, but I think it’s still going to be a fairly rare occurrence that this particular issue comes up. read more

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