Introduction

Peggy Young worked for United Parcel Services, Inc. (UPS), as a parttime, early morning driver. She was primarily responsible for air delivery packages, which were more expensive by weight and tended to be lighter than other parcels handled by UPS employees. According to UPS company policies, her job required her “to be able to lift, lower, push, pull, leverage and manipulate items weighing up to 70 pounds.”1 As a driver, Ms. Young was expected to inspect her van, load packages, and deliver to the customers on her route any package less than 70 pounds and not unusually shaped. Many UPS drivers, including Young, were covered under policies established by UPS and their collective bargaining unit. The collective bargaining agreement and UPS policies provided temporary, light duty work assignments for employees suffering from an on-the-job injury. According to UPS policy, light duty accommodations were only authorized when an employee was qualified as “disabled” under the definition of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA), unless a protected employee is unable to perform all essential requirements of the job. Off-duty injuries were not covered by UPS policy; under those circumstances, the employee would be required to take an unpaid leave of absence if the employee could no longer fulfill job requirements. UPS treated pregnancy as if it were an off-the-job injury: “UPS does not offer light duty to any employee, male or female, who has any medical condition not related to work, pregnancy included …