AN ACT To eliminate discrimination and promote women's health and economic security by enacting the north carolina Pregnant workers fairness act and appropriate funding for implementation.

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:

SECTION 1.  Effective January 1, 2027, Chapter 95 of the General Statutes is amended by adding a new Article to read:

Article 24.

Pregnant Workers Fairness Act.

§95‑280.  Title.

This Article shall be known and may be cited as the North Carolina Pregnant Workers Fairness Act.

§ 95‑281.  Definitions

The following definitions apply in this Article:

(1)        Covered entity. – Each of the following:

a.         A private employer engaged in an industry affecting commerce who employs 15 or more employees.

b.         The executive, judicial, and legislative branches of State government.

c.         A unit of local government, including a county, city, or town.

(2)        Employee. – Any individual employed by a covered entity, including an applicant for employment.

(3)        Known limitation. – Any physical or mental condition related to, affected by, or arising out of pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions that the employee or the employee's representative has communicated to the covered entity, regardless of whether that condition meets the definition of disability under the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, 42 U.S.C. § 12102.

(4)        Qualified employee. – An employee or applicant who, with or without reasonable accommodation, can perform the essential functions of the employment position. An employee or applicant is also qualified if any inability to perform an essential function is for a temporary period, the essential function could be performed in the near future, and the inability to perform that function can be reasonably accommodated.

(5)        Reasonable accommodation and undue hardship. – As defined in Section 101 of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, 42 U.S.C. § 12111, and interpreted consistent with that Act and the regulations promulgated thereunder, including the interactive process for identifying and implementing an appropriate accommodation. Rules adopted by the Commissioner under G.S. 95‑285 shall be consistent with this definition and shall not be construed to limit rights afforded under this Article.

§ 95‑282.  Unlawful employment practices.

It is an unlawful employment practice for any covered entity to do any of the following:

(1)        Fail or refuse to make reasonable accommodations to the known limitations of a qualified employee related to pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions, unless the covered entity demonstrates that the accommodation would impose an undue hardship on the operation of its business.

(2)        Impose an accommodation upon a qualified employee for a known limitation related to pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions without first engaging in the interactive process with that employee to identify an effective accommodation.

(3)       Require a qualified employee to accept a particular accommodation for a known limitation related to pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions where an alternative accommodation identified through the interactive process would be equally effective and would not impose an undue hardship on the covered entity.

(4)        Deny employment opportunities to a qualified employee where the denial is based on the need to make reasonable accommodations to that employee's known limitations related to pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions.

(5)        Require a qualified employee to take leave, whether paid or unpaid, where another reasonable accommodation can be provided to address that employee's known limitations related to pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions.

(6)        Take any adverse action in the terms, conditions, or privileges of employment against a qualified employee on account of that employee's request for or use of a reasonable accommodation for known limitations related to pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions.

§ 95‑283.  Retaliation and coercion prohibited.

(a)        Nondiscrimination. – No covered entity or other person shall discriminate against any employee because that employee has opposed any act or practice made unlawful under this Article, or because that employee made a charge, testified, assisted, or participated in any manner in an investigation, proceeding, or hearing under this Article.

(b)       No Intimidation. – No covered entity or other person shall coerce, intimidate, threaten, or interfere with any individual in the exercise or enjoyment of any right granted or protected by this Article, or on account of that individual having exercised or enjoyed such a right, or having aided or encouraged any other individual in doing so.

(c)        Remedies. – The remedies and procedures available under G.S. 95‑284 apply to violations of this section.

§ 95‑284.  Enforcement and remedies.

(a)        Private right of action. – Any employee aggrieved by a violation of this Article may bring a civil action in the Superior Court of the county where the violation occurred, where the covered entity maintains its principal place of business, or where the employee resides.

(b)       Exhaustion. – Before filing a civil action under this section, an aggrieved State employee shall first exhaust any applicable State Human Resources Commission, or other grievance procedures, before filing suit.

(c)        Remedies. In any civil action brought under this Article, the court may award the following:

(1)       Injunctive relief, including reinstatement and reasonable accommodation.

(2)       Back pay and lost benefits.

(3)       Compensatory damages for future pecuniary losses, emotional pain and suffering, inconvenience, mental anguish, and loss of enjoyment of life.

(4)       Punitive damages, where the covered entity engaged in an unlawful employment practice with malice or with reckless indifference to the rights of the aggrieved employee.

(5)       Reasonable attorneys' fees and costs to a prevailing plaintiff.

(d)       Damages limitation. – Compensatory and punitive damages may not be awarded under this section where the unlawful employment practice involves the provision of a reasonable accommodation and the covered entity demonstrates that it made good‑faith efforts, in consultation with the affected employee, to identify and provide a reasonable accommodation that would offer an equally effective opportunity and would not cause undue hardship on the operation of the covered entity.

(e)        State employees. – Nothing in this section shall be construed to waive the State's sovereign immunity beyond the extent expressly provided herein. An employee of the State or any of its agencies, institutions, or subdivisions may bring a civil action under this Article in State Superior Court, and the State shall not assert sovereign immunity as a defense to such an action.

(f)        Statute of limitations. – An aggrieved employee must bring a civil action under this Article within three years after the date the unlawful employment practice occurred. For a State employee required to exhaust State Human Resources Commission grievance procedures under subsection (b) of this section, the three‑year period is tolled from the date the employee initiates those grievance procedures until the date a final decision is issued or the procedures are otherwise concluded.

§ 95‑285.  Rulemaking; policies.

(a)        Subject to the provisions of subsection (b) of this section, the Commissioner of Labor shall adopt rules in accordance with Chapter 150B of the General Statutes to carry out the purposes of this Article. The rules shall include examples of reasonable accommodations addressing known limitations related to pregnancy, childbirth, and related medical conditions, and shall be issued in an accessible format.

(b)        Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (a) of this section:

(1)        The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court shall adopt policies to implement the provisions of this Article for the judicial branch.

(2)        The Legislative Service Officer shall adopt policies to implement the provisions of this Article for the legislative branch.

§ 95‑286.    Relationship to other laws.

Nothing in this Article limits or supersedes any right, remedy, or protection provided under any other provision of State or federal law that affords equal or greater protection to individuals affected by pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions. The protections of this Article are cumulative with and in addition to those provided under Article 49A of Chapter 143 of the General Statutes and any applicable federal law.

§ 95‑287.  Severability.

If any provision of this Article or its application to any person or circumstance is held invalid or unconstitutional, the remainder of the Article and the application of that provision to other persons or circumstances are unaffected.

SECTION 2.  Effective July 1, 2026, there is appropriated from the General Fund  the sum of six hundred thousand dollars ($600,000) for the 2026‑2027 fiscal year to be allocated as follows for implementation of this act:

(1)        Two hundred thousand dollars ($200,000) to the Department of Labor.

(2)        Two hundred thousand dollars ($200,000) to the Administrative Office of the Courts for the judicial branch,

(3)        Two hundred thousand dollars ($200,000) to the Legislative Services Office for the legislative branch.

SECTION 3.  Except as otherwise provided, this act is effective when it becomes law.