SEATTLE — Washington Attorney General Nick Brown sued Providence Health & Services on Wednesday, May 13, accusing the state’s largest health care provider of repeatedly denying pregnant and nursing employees the reasonable workplace accommodations required by state law.
“Taking commonsense steps to keep pregnant and nursing employees and their babies safe and healthy isn’t optional — it’s the law,” AG Brown wrote in a statement. “A health care provider like Providence should know better.”
The state first raised its concerns with Providence before filing suit, but those discussions did not resolve the issues, the Attorney General’s Office said.
The lawsuit, filed in King County Superior Court, alleges that Providence violated Washington’s Healthy Starts Act and the state’s Law Against Discrimination by failing to accommodate hundreds of employees who requested pregnancy-related adjustments. Even when Providence approved accommodations on paper, the suit says, it often failed to put them in place, forcing workers to continue their duties without relief and exposing them and their pregnancies to unnecessary risk.
The Healthy Starts Act requires employers to provide reasonable accommodations for pregnancy and lactation-related needs unless doing so would impose an undue hardship on the business. The law explicitly lists several accommodations — including more frequent restroom breaks, seating, lifting limits and breaks for expressing milk — that cannot be denied on the basis of undue hardship. The Law Against Discrimination separately prohibits retaliation against workers who exercise their rights under the statute.
The complaint, reviewed by the Lynnwood Times, describes a pattern dating back to 2021 involving more than 300 requests to Providence for pregnancy accommodations from nurses and other frontline health workers. Employees reported being denied permission to sit more frequently during shifts that required standing, to receive schedule changes for prenatal medical appointments, to limit lifting to 17 pounds or less, and to have private time and space to express breast milk. Some were told they could not modify a no-food-or-drink policy or receive other basic adjustments.
The suit says Providence’s process routinely involved long delays — sometimes weeks or a month — while employees waited for decisions from a third-party administrator. During that time, workers were expected to perform their full duties without any interim relief. The complaint also alleges that Providence required medical certifications in situations where state law prohibits them and retaliated against employees who sought accommodations by terminating them, forcing them onto leave, assigning them more strenuous duties or treating them with hostility.
The lawsuit contends that Providence’s failures were not isolated. It describes a centralized “Caregiver Relations” team and reliance on a third-party claims administrator that, according to the complaint, did not consistently apply the requirements of the Healthy Starts Act. Managers and supervisors received training on accommodations and discrimination that omitted key provisions of the law, the suit says. Providence’s own written policies also fell short of state requirements, according to the complaint.
In addition to seeking a court declaration that Providence’s practices violate state law, the lawsuit asks for an injunction barring the provider from continuing the alleged violations. It also seeks monetary and equitable relief for affected employees, along with the state’s reasonable attorney fees and costs.
Providence, a Renton-based nonprofit, operates more than 35 hospitals and numerous clinics across Washington and employs roughly 20,000 people in the state. It is the largest health care provider in Washington and also runs facilities in several other states.
Its mission reads: “As expressions of God’s healing love, witnessed through the ministry of Jesus, we are steadfast in serving all, especially those who are poor and vulnerable.”
If you experienced pregnancy discrimination while employed by Providence, or one of its affiliates (e.g., Kadlec, Swedish, or PacMed), we want to hear from you. Contact our Civil Rights Division by emailing ProvidencePregnancyLawsuit@atg.wa.gov or by calling (833) 660-4877. Current and former employees may also submit a complaint using the AGO’s online form.
Author: Mario Lotmore
