More than three decades after Congress passed a law trying to protect pregnant women in the workplace, discrimination is still widespread and needs to be combated with publicity¹ and clearer guidelines, according to testimony² Wednesday at a federal hearing.

据周三美国联邦法院听证会的证词显示，在美国国会通过保护职场女性孕期权利的法律三十多年之后，职场女性怀孕依然广泛遭受歧视，需要通过加大宣传和制定更明确的指导方针来和歧视作斗争。

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission's legal counsel, Peggy Mastroianni, said the agency had resolved 52,000 pregnancy³ cases since 2001, with $150.5 million paid out in damages.

Discrimination against pregnant women includes firing, forced leave without pay, being denied a place to pump breast milk and being barred from some work, witnesses told the five-member EEOC panel at a hearing on the issue.

Decades after the passage of the 1978 Pregnancy Discrimination Act, discrimination ranges from the shop floor to the executive suite⁴, with sexual stereotyping⁵ a major factor. It is found in every state, but is more likely to hit women in low-income jobs, they said.

"This many years after the Pregnancy Discrimination Act, we still have employers who still don't understand the basics. Are we getting the word out on fundamental issues?" said Commissioner⁶ Constance Barker.

The issue of workplace discrimination was highlighted two weeks ago when a federal judge in Texas ruled against a Houston mother who said she was fired after asking for a place to pump breast milk.

The EEOC helped litigate（对簿法庭） the case. General Counsel David Lopez said the agency was weighing whether to appeal the ruling.

The Pregnancy Discrimination Act forbids discrimination by employers based on pregnancy, including hiring, firing, pay, job assignments and promotions⁷. Under the law, pregnancy is considered a temporarily disabling condition.

Witnesses said overlapping⁸ laws and rules, such as the Pregnancy Discrimination Act, the 1990 Americans With Disabilities Act and the Family and Medical Leave Act, had created gray areas that left employers uncertain about how to deal with pregnancy.

One issue was how to compare treatment of a pregnant woman with that of other employees, they said.

"In our view, the current laws are a little confusing and in some cases contradictory⁹（矛盾的） ," said Deane Ilukowicz, a human relations executive with Hypertherm Inc, a Hanover, New Hampshire, maker¹⁰ of metal cutting gear.