The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has sued St. Louis Arc, a nonprofit that provides disability support services, alleging it refused to accommodate a pregnant employee's lifting limit and then fired her. The EEOC announced the lawsuit on Sept. 30, 2026; the case is EEOC v. St. Louis Arc, Inc., No. 4:26-cv-01547, in federal court for the Eastern District of Missouri.
What the EEOC alleges
According to the agency, a community support specialist told supervisors in early 2024 that she was pregnant and later gave them medical paperwork for a temporary 20-pound lifting limit. The EEOC says St. Louis Arc regularly gave light-duty or modified work to other employees with similar temporary limits, including people hurt on the job, but would not do so for her. It placed her on leave that was guaranteed for only 12 weeks and fired her when that leave ran out shortly before her due date.
The suit claims violations of the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act and Title VII. The EEOC said it filed after trying to settle through its conciliation process. These are allegations, and the agency's release did not include a response from St. Louis Arc.
Why this matters for providers and DSPs
Lifting and physical support are part of many direct support jobs, so pregnancy-related limits come up often at provider agencies. Under the PWFA, employers must make reasonable changes for known pregnancy-related limits unless that would cause undue hardship, and they cannot force a worker onto leave when another accommodation would work. An agency that already offers light duty after injuries should expect that practice to be the yardstick for pregnant DSPs.