Fitzpatrick v. Bitzer

• Decision Date: 16 September 1974
• Docket Number: Civ. No. 15492.
• Court: U.S. District Court — District of Connecticut
• Parties: Garland M. FITZPATRICK et al. v. J. Frederick BITZER, Chairman of the State Employees' Retirement Commission, et al.

390 F. Supp. 278

Garland M. FITZPATRICK et al. v. J. Frederick BITZER, Chairman of the State Employees' Retirement Commission, et al.

Civ. No. 15492.

United States District Court, D. Connecticut.

September 16, 1974.

Paul W. Orth, Hoppin, Carey & Powell, Hartford, Conn., for plaintiffs.

Sidney D. Giber, Asst. Atty. Gen. for State of Connecticut, Robert J. Killian, Atty. Gen., Hartford, Conn., for defendants.

MEMORANDUM OF DECISION

CLARIE, Chief Judge.

This suit was brought as a class action by the named plaintiffs, in behalf of all "male" state employees or former state employees, who were members of the State Employees' Retirement System, under Chapter 66 of the Connecticut General Statutes. It not only asserted equal protection claims under the Fourteenth Amendment to the Federal Constitution, but also statutory violations under the Civil Rights Act of 1871, 42 U.S.C. § 1983. The plaintiffs request the Court to grant both declaratory and injunctive relief against the Chairman of the State Employees' Retirement Commission, the State Treasurer and the State Comptroller, to prevent their alleged continued administration of what is claimed to be unlawful sexually discriminatory retirement provisions of the Connecticut State Employees' Retirement Act and more particularly § 5-162, § 5-163, and § 5-166 of the Connecticut General Statutes.

Jurisdiction of this suit exists under 28 U.S.C. §§ 1331, 1343(3) and (4), 2201, 2202, and 2281; and the action is specifically authorized under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, as amended, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-5(f)(3). Since injunctive relief restraining the enforcement of certain state statutes was requested, a three-judge constitutional court was convened, under 28 U.S.C. §§ 2281 and 2284. A hearing on the merits, scheduled before the three-judge court on April 27, 1973, was postponed at the request of plaintiffs' counsel, because at that time the General Assembly was reported to be favorably considering legislation, which would make this case moot. The plaintiffs thereafter amended their complaint on October 15, 1973, by adding a second count, alleging that the State Retirement Act, on its face and as applied, violates Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e et seq., and more specifically Public Law No. 92-261, effective March 24, 1972. The plaintiffs also represented that this state law clearly violates the interpretive guidelines relating to pension fringe benefits as promulgated under 29 C.F.R. 1604.9 and 37 C.F.R. 6835¹ by the Equal Employment Opportunities Commission, revised April 5, 1972.

The State Employees' Retirement Act grants to women employees having 25 or more years of state service, the right to retire with pension rights five years earlier than men with identical service qualifications; so that women may retire at age 50, while men are not permitted to retire until five years later, at age 55. The Act also contains provisions described as discriminatory rate differentials in favor of female employees over male employees, who have worked less than 25 years in the state service. These laws authorize reduced retirement benefits to employees, who separate from state employment before they are normally eligible to retire, based upon the aforesaid preferred age differentials.

After a full hearing on the merits, the Court finds that the State Employees' Retirement Act does violate Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended, and the regulations appurtenant thereto, in that it invidiously discriminates in favor of women over men, as to the number of years of service eligibility and the computation of retirement benefits. The Court accordingly grants judgment for the plaintiffs on their prayer for equitable relief.

Subject Background

This suit is sponsored by the Connecticut State Employees' Association, a non-profit organization, whose purpose primarily is to protect and promote the interests of all state employees. The parties stipulated in writing that the Association and its membership have approved the bringing of this action and that its news publication has in the past, and will in the future, apprise its members of its progress. They have also agreed that it is a true class action, and that the male plaintiffs are not in any way different from, unique, or not representative of other similarly situated male state employees, insofar as their retirement benefits and those of comparably situated female state employees are concerned.²

The State Employees' Association itself agreed to pay the court costs required for the bringing of this action, while the Connecticut Civil Liberties Union agreed to assume the responsibility for providing cooperating legal counsel at no expense to the plaintiffs. All of the plaintiffs are male state employees; four of them are currently employed and two are retired. Both of the aforesaid employee categories are comprised of participating members in the Connecticut State Employees' Retirement Fund. Three of the active employees have worked more than 25 years and desire to retire before reaching 55 years of age; the fourth has served more than 10 years, but less than 25 years and wishes to retire in the near future.

The plaintiffs' complaint as originally drawn, attacked the constitutionality of several sections of the State Retirement Act and requested that their enforcement be enjoined, insofar as the statutes related to the disparate treatment of retirement provisions and premised these claims on alleged violations of equal protection rights under the Federal Constitution. The Federal Equal Employment Opportunity Act was amended by Public Law No. 92-261, 86 Stat. 103, on March 24, 1972, so as to encompass state and local governments under its definition of the terms, "person, employer and employee," 42 U.S.C. § 2000e(a), (b) and (f). This change made it encumbent upon state and local governments to immediately reappraise their employment practices, to be certain that they conformed with the amended federal law and its supporting regulations. After the commencement of this action on December 11, 1972, the plaintiffs, in January, 1973, filed a class complaint with the Boston Regional Office of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission of discrimination charges against the Connecticut State Employees' Retirement Commission. On September 14, 1973, that office issued to the plaintiffs a right to sue letter as the latter had requested. The Equal Employment Opportunity Act amendment made it obvious to the three-judge court, that the application of the new law might well prove dispositive of the issues. For that reason, the Court remanded the case to the single district judge who convened it, so that he might consider the applicability of federal statutory law and thus dispose of the case on those grounds, without reaching the constitutional issues. It is now a well established principle of law that even "a three-judge court . . . is obliged to adjudicate a statutory claim in preference to deciding the original constitutional claim . . . ." Rosado v. Wyman, 397 U.S. 397, 402, 90 S.Ct. 1207, 1212, 25 L.Ed.2d 442 (1970); see also Wyman v. Rothstein, 398 U.S. 275, 90 S.Ct. 1582, 26 L.Ed.2d 218 (1970); King v. Smith, 392 U.S. 309, 88 S.Ct. 2128, 20 L.Ed.2d 1118 (1968), and Swift & Co. v. Wickham, 382 U.S. 111, 86 S.Ct. 258, 15 L.Ed. 2d 194 (1965).

Written stipulations of fact were executed by counsel; the first was filed November 30, 1973, and the supplement was filed February 6, 1974. Procedurally, counsel agreed therein that the amendment which added the second count, filed March 29, 1974,

"(a) . . . be treated as valid when originally filed or may be revalidated as of the date of the filing of this stipulation, (b) that it is not necessary for plaintiffs to file a new amendment at this time or commence a new civil action, and (c) that the Amendment already on file should be considered the civil action commenced by said plaintiffs, as authorized by the Attorney General in such letter right to sue letter of January 16, 1974."³

The plaintiffs' complaint alleged that the following provisions of the State Retirement Act constituted an invidious discrimination against male employees:

(a) Connecticut General Statute § 5-162, and more particularly:

"(i) Subsection (c)(1) which provides for the retirement of a member with 25 or more years of state service `on or after the member's fifty-fifth birthday, if a man, or fiftieth birthday, if a woman."

"(ii) Subsection (d)(1) which provides for the retirement of a member with less than 25 years of state service if he meets the following conditions:

"(A) The member is a woman who has completed five years of state service and reached her sixty-fifth birthday;

"(B) The member is a woman who has completed ten years of state service and reached her fifty-fifth birthday;

"(C) The member is a man who has completed ten years of state service and reached his sixtieth birthday;' and subsection (d)(3) in which retirement income is computed on the basis of a table based on age and sex under which in effect a man must be five years older than a woman to receive equivalent benefits.

"(b) Connecticut General Statutes 5-163 on early retirement, especially subsection 3 (c), wherein a member `after he has completed twenty-five years of state service but before he has reached his fifty-fifth birthday, if a man, or her fiftieth birthday, if a woman, shall be entitled to a retirement income.'"

"(c) Connecticut General Statute 5-166(a) which provides that a member who leaves state service before becoming eligible for retirement shall, under certain conditions, be eligible for retirement income on a reduced actuarial basis `provided, if such member is a woman she shall be eligible upon reaching her fiftieth birthday and if a man, he shall be eligible upon reaching his fifty-fifth birthday."

The plaintiffs' complaint alleged that the foregoing provisions of state law, on their...