Burwell v. Eastern Air Lines, Inc.
| Decision Date | 06 September 1978 |
| Docket Number | Civ. A. No. 74-0418-R,75-0688-R. |
| Citation | 458 F. Supp. 474 |
| Parties | Catherine M. BURWELL et al., Plaintiffs, v. EASTERN AIR LINES, INC., et al., Defendants. Sharyn D. CLAYTON, Plaintiff, v. EASTERN AIR LINES, INC., Defendant. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Eastern District of Virginia |
COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED
Robert B. Wallace, Alexandria, Va., Jay L. Westbrook, Surrey, Karasik & Morse, Washington, D.C., Stephen L. Spitz, The Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, Washington, D.C., David R. Cashdan, Roisman, Kessler & Cashdan, Washington, D.C., John C. Falkenberry, Charles A. Powell, III, Birmingham, Ala., for plaintiffs.
Henry L. Marsh, III, Richmond, Va., Joseph Ray Terry, Jr., Atlanta, Ga., for proposed intervenors Ina Federal and Andrea Bergen.
Hunton, Williams, Gay & Gibson, Francis V. Lowden, Jr., Paul M. Thompson, Christine H. Perdue, A. W. VanderMeer, Jr., Richmond, Va., for Eastern Airlines.
W. H. Cabell Venable, Richmond, Va., Asher W. Schwartz, New York City, for Local 550 of the Airline Stewards and Stewardesses Ass'n and Local 553 of the Transport Workers Union of America.
Plaintiffs, female employees of the defendant, Eastern Air Lines, Inc. (Eastern), bring this action under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e et seq., to redress alleged sexually discriminatory employment practices. Local 550 of the Airline Stewards and Stewardesses Association (local 550) and Local 553 of the Transport Workers Union of America (TWU Local 553) are also named as defendants. The plaintiffs seek declaratory, injunctive and monetary relief. Jurisdiction is attained pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-5(f). A trial has been held on the issue of liability and the Court is prepared to issue its findings of fact and conclusions of law.
(1) The action styled Burwell et al. v. Eastern Air Lines, Inc., et al. was brought by Catherine Burwell and Jean Proctor against Eastern and the two union defendants alleging sex discrimination in the maintenance and administration of the maternity and benefits policies applicable to Eastern flight attendants.
(2) Sharyn Clayton filed a similar action against Eastern in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Alabama.
(3) Plaintiff Burwell, who has been an Eastern flight attendant for approximately twelve years, had had the following maternity history since 1970:
(4) Plaintiff Proctor, who has been an Eastern flight attendant for approximately eleven years, has had the following maternity history since 1970:
(5) The defendant Eastern is a Delaware corporation doing business in Virginia where it is engaged in the transportation of passengers across state lines. Eastern employs more than fifteen persons and has, at all times material to this action, been an employer engaged in an industry affecting commerce within the meaning of 42 U.S.C. § 2000e(b), (g) and (h).
(6) Locals 550 and 553 (the Union) are labor organizations engaged in an industry affecting commerce and having more than fifteen members within the meaning of 42 U.S.C. § 2000e(d) and (e). At all times material hereto prior to June 1974, Local 550 was the recognized collective bargaining representative for all Eastern flight attendants. In June 1974, Local 553 was formed as a successor to Local 550 with respect to the employees of Eastern. Since June 1974, Local 553 has been the recognized collective bargaining representative for all Eastern flight attendants.
(7) The plaintiffs are and have been members of the Union at all times material to this litigation.
(8) At issue in this litigation is the legality of the various components of Eastern's maternity policy. Broadly speaking, the plaintiffs challenge: (a) the separate treatment of pregnancy under Eastern's Group Comprehensive Medical Insurance; (b) the exclusion of pregnancy from Eastern's paid sick leave policy and the impact of such exclusion on other conditions of employment; (c) the policy that pregnant flight attendants lose all accumulated seniority if they transfer to ground positions rather than taking maternity leave; (d) the time limits placed on guaranteed rights to reinstatement of flight attendants taking maternity leave and (e) the requirement that flight attendants must commence maternity leave immediately upon knowledge of pregnancy. The policies under attack are contained in a collective bargaining agreement entered into by Eastern and the Union.
(9) Upon motion of Eastern, the Clayton action was transferred from the Northern District of Alabama to the Eastern District of Virginia. The Burwell and Clayton actions were consolidated for all purposes by order of the Court dated January 27, 1976.
(10) Upon motion of Eastern, this litigation was certified a class action pursuant to Rule 23(b)(2), Fed.R.Civ.P. The class is defined as all female flight attendants employed by Eastern at any time since October 27, 1972, or who may be so employed in the future, and who are, were, or may in the future be subject to Eastern's maternity leave policy.
(11) Notices of the pendency of this action were mailed to all class members on November 10, 1975 and January 29, 1976. In addition, notices were posted for a period of twenty days at all places throughout the Eastern system where flight attendant notices are customarily posted.
(12) The plaintiffs have now moved the Court (a) to redefine the class to include ground employees and (b) to extend the time frame back to July 2, 1965. The Court would be inclined to include ground employees and to adopt a July 2, 1965 cutoff date if the request for class certification were being presented for the first time. See Briggs v. Brown and Williamson Tobacco Corp., 414 F.Supp. 371, 377-378 (E.D.Va. 1976). At this late date, however, broadening the class in the requested manner would, in the Court's view, be inappropriate.
(13) Prior to 1973, Eastern refused to hire married persons for flight attendant positions. Between 1958 or 1959 and 1973, Eastern also limited employment of flight attendants exclusively to women. Accordingly, the impact of the "singles only" hiring policy fell primarily upon women. Prior to the mid-1960's, Eastern also maintained a policy of terminating female flight attendants who became married. This policy was never applied to male flight attendants.
(14) From 1931 until May 1, 1965, Eastern automatically terminated all flight attendants who became pregnant. This policy was modified in 1965 to give the Company the option to fire flight attendants who became pregnant. From March 21, 1970 to the present, Eastern's policy has been that flight attendants must commence unpaid maternity leave immediately upon knowledge of pregnancy. As part of this policy, flight attendants on mandatory maternity leave have guaranteed rights to reinstatement within ninety days after delivery under normal circumstances or within six months after delivery if the additional time is needed for medical reasons.
(15) From March 21, 1970 until April 26, 1973, it was Eastern's policy that flight attendants could not accrue seniority during mandatory maternity leave. As a result of collective bargaining between Eastern and the defendant Union, this policy was changed to allow accrual of seniority. Flight attendants whose seniority dates were adversely adjusted as a result of maternity leave occurring after July 1, 1972, could, upon request, have such seniority restored.
(16) On April 12, 1974, in connection with the settlement of Healen v. Eastern Air Lines, Inc., Civil Action No. 1897 (N.D.Ga.), Eastern agreed to restore the seniority of any female flight attendant whose seniority had been adversely affected as a result of maternity leave occurring prior to July 1, 1972. At Atlanta, and perhaps at other bases, attendants who were identified as having taken maternity leave prior to July 1, 1972, were sent individual letters setting forth the facts of the Healen settlement and requesting that they respond in writing within sixty days, stating their name, employee number and dates of maternity leave. Eastern subsequently automatically restored all seniority for flight attendants at its Atlanta base, whether or not they responded to the individual letters explaining Healen.
(17) Although plaintiff Proctor did not accrue seniority during her maternity leave in 1972, and did not request restoration of seniority under either the 1973 contract change or the Healen settlement, Eastern nonetheless restored her seniority sometime between January 1, 1974 and July 1, 1974. Mrs. Proctor lost no seniority during her 1974-1975 maternity leave.
(18) Eastern provides a Group Comprehensive Medical Insurance Plan for eligible flight attendants and pays 100% of the premiums for such coverage.
(19) Eastern's Group Comprehensive Medical Insurance Plan has provided at all relevant times herein the payment of 80% of all covered major medical expenses after the satisfaction of a $100 per person calendar year deductible.
(20) Eastern's Group Comprehensive Medical Insurance Plan provided and continues to provide for the payment of covered in-hospital expenses at the following rates: For March 21, 1970, through June...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
Harriss v. Pan American World Airways, Inc.
...F.2d 361 (4th Cir. 1980) (suggesting that a policy justified by business necessity may not constitute a BFOQ); but cf. Burwell, 458 F.Supp. 474, 496 n.11 (E.D.Va.1978) ("As a practical matter, however, the Court sees little difference between the two tests."), aff'd in part, rev'd in part a......
-
Hayes v. Shelby Memorial Hosp.
...to show that it was precluded from requiring one of the technicians to accept a temporary transfer. 2 See Burwell v. Eastern Airlines, Inc., 458 F.Supp. 474 (E.D. Va. 1978), aff'd in part, rev'd in part, 633 F.2d 361 (4th Cir. 1980), cert. denied, 450 U.S. 965, 101 S.Ct. 1480, 67 L.Ed.2d 61......
-
Burwell v. Eastern Air Lines, Inc.
...thirteen to twenty weeks; twenty to twenty-eight weeks; and twenty-eight weeks to termination of pregnancy. Burwell v. Eastern Air Lines, Inc., 458 F.Supp. 474 (E.D.Va.1978) (the case sub judice ). The initial burden of Title VII plaintiffs is to show a prima facie case of employment discri......
-
Greenspan v. Automobile Club of Michigan
...albeit temporary, burden on those employees unable to return within six months of their termination. Cf., Burwell v. Eastern Airlines, Inc., 458 F.Supp. 474, 494 (E.D.Va.1978). Even more clearly perhaps, the loss of seniority credit for the period of termination and the loss of other employ......