07/30/2026
Two questions kept coming up on my last video - the first question was whether a menopause law will just make employers avoid hiring women our age. I understand the fear, but I think it’s backwards. Ask yourself whether the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act stopped employers from hiring pregnant women. They were already not hiring them. They were already refusing to accommodate a pregnancy, forcing women out the moment one was announced, and denying maternity leave entirely to anyone not covered by the FMLA, which only applies to employers with 50 or more employees. The bias was there the whole time. What changed in 2023 is that now there is a law that says you get to stay, and that you get an accommodation while you do. The second question was - Forget the bill, what can I ask for right now? You are not waiting on Congress. Three laws already cover you this morning, and the important part is how they work together. Title VII prohibits s*x discrimination, and perimenopause and menopause are s*x-based by definition. They happen only to women. So it isn’t only the comments and the jokes about hot flashes, though those count too. Being sidelined, written up, or managed out because of a condition only women experience is s*x discrimination on its face. The ADA protects you when your symptoms substantially limit a major life activity. Sleeping counts. Concentrating counts. Regulating your body temperature counts. It still counts if it comes and goes, because a condition that flares is evaluated when it is active. That is what entitles you to a reasonable accommodation. The ADEA prohibits age discrimination against workers 40 and older, and the median age for menopause in this country is 51. Nearly every woman going through this is already inside the protected class. Here is the part people miss. These claims are not either-or. You can bring them together. Your employer isn’t pushing out all women and isn’t pushing out all older workers. It is pushing out older women, for a condition that only women get, at an age the law already protects. Three statutes, one set of facts.
