Iberia, a Spanish airline, had an unusual requirement for hiring—one that caused government and union officials to punish them for sexism, according to the The New York Times.
The airline has a series of tests that employees must pass before they can be hired, like any other business would. The problem is that their health examination includes a pregnancy test.
Iberia claimed to be protecting the prospective employees from the affects flying can have on a pregnant woman in the last trimester, Cosmopolitan reports. However, one of Spain’s main labor unions, Unión General de Trabajadores, says this is NOT the way to ensure safety. “In the case of airlines, companies must be rigorous with the application of labor risk prevention protocols,” they said in a statement on their website, “However, these types of measures apply to active workers, who are part of the company. In no case can this information be requested from a person who aspires to be an airline worker and there is no reason to justify it.”
After all the controversy, Iberia finally decided to remove the pregnancy test—although no one was sure why it was even there in the first place. The company posted a statement claiming that they’ve never denied a woman a job because she was pregnant.
According to the Times, Iberia was fined for 25,000 euros (or $28,000) by officials in the Balearic Islands.