The Supreme Court has given a former UPS driver another chance to prove her claim of discrimination after the company did not offer her lighter duties while she was pregnant . On a 6-3 vote , the justices on Wednesday revived Peggy Young 's discrimination claim against UPS and sent the case back to a lower court . The case concerned employers ' responsibilities under the 37-year-old Pregnancy Discrimination Act . Atlanta-based UPS maintained that it obeyed the law because it provided light-work duty only in limited situations and did not single out pregnant women . Peggy Young ( pictured in December last year ) , a Virginia woman who lost her UPS job because she became pregnant , speaks to reporters outside the Supreme Court in Washington , DC . The Supreme Court is giving the former UPS driver another chance to prove her claim of discrimination after the company did not offer her lighter duty when she was pregnant . But the company changed its policy as of January and said it now tries to accommodate pregnant workers . The justices gave Young another chance to litigate whether UPS should have granted her request for temporary changes in work duties - she asked not to lift heavier packages - after she became pregnant in 2006 . Writing on behalf of the majority , liberal Justice Stephen Breyer said the lower court is required to determine if the employer had 'legitimate , nondiscriminatory , nonpretextual justification ' for treating employees differently . Breyer said the lower court failed to consider the effects of UPS policies that covered non-pregnant workers who might have disabilities , injuries or otherwise might need accommodations , and asked , 'Why , when the employer accommodated so many , could it not accommodate pregnant women as well ? ' Breyer said there is a 'genuine dispute as to whether UPS provided more favorable treatment to at least some employees whose situation can not reasonably be distinguished from Young 's ' . The outcome reflects a 'middle ground ' that Justice Elena Kagan suggested during arguments in early December . Courts must now re-examine Young 's case with a more accepting view of the discrimination claim . A federal district court judge and an appeals court had ruled in favor of UPS , which was backed by business groups in the case . The two sides in the case disagreed over whether UPS agreed to accommodate non-pregnant workers requesting light-duty assignments . UPS and other employers facing similar suits still are able to argue their policies were legal because they were based on seniority or some other acceptable reason . The case concerned whether the package delivery company violated a federal law , the Pregnancy Discrimination Act , by denying Young 's request . Young , who worked at a Maryland facility , had acted on a midwife 's advice that she not be required to lift packages weighing more than 20 pounds ( 9 kg ) . Young , now 43 , said she dealt almost exclusively with overnight letters , but UPS said its drivers must be able to lift packages weighing up to 70 pounds . Young left the company in 2009 . The Virginia woman lost two rounds in lower courts . UPS has since changed its policy , and now says it will try to accommodate pregnant workers . Nine states also have adopted laws directing employers to do so . In recent months , the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has updated guidance to employers to make clear that they should accommodate people in Young 's situation . Yet the U.S . Postal Service said it has made no change in policy and maintains the practice that UPS has now abandoned . Supporters of Peggy Young , a Virginia woman who lost her UPS job because she became pregnant , attend a rally outside the Supreme Court in DC in December . The justices found in Young 's favor on Wednesday .
On a 6-3 vote , the justices on Wednesday revived Peggy Young 's discrimination claim against UPS and sent the case back to a lower court . The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals had ruled in favor of UPS last year when it rejected Young's claims that she was fired because her boss said " I don't like black people or women... "