Burwell v. Eastern Air Lines, Inc., Civ. A. No. 74-0418-R.

• Decision Date: 16 May 1975
• Docket Number: Civ. A. No. 74-0418-R.
• Citation: 394 F. Supp. 1361
• Parties: Catherine M. BURWELL et al. v. EASTERN AIR LINES, INC., et al.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Eastern District of Virginia

394 F. Supp. 1361

Catherine M. BURWELL et al. v. EASTERN AIR LINES, INC., et al.

Civ. A. No. 74-0418-R.

United States District Court, E. D. Virginia, Richmond Division.

May 16, 1975.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

Robert B. Wallace, Lawyer's Committee for Civil Rights, Washington, D. C., for plaintiffs.

Francis V. Lowden, Jr., Paul M. Thompson, Richmond, Va., A. Andrew Giangreco, Alexandria, Va., for defendants.

MEMORANDUM

MERHIGE, District Judge.

Plaintiffs, Catherine M. Burwell and Jean H. Proctor, are female flight attendants employed by Eastern Airlines, Inc., who bring this class action against Eastern and their past and present collective bargaining representatives, Airline Stewards and Stewardesses Association, Local 550, and Air Transport Division, Local 553, Transport Workers Union of America, AFL-CIO (hereinafter "Locals 550 and 553" or "the Union"), pursuant to Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e et seq., as amended by the Equal Employment Opportunity Act of 1972. They allege that Eastern's maternity leave policy discriminates against them on the basis of their sex and seek declaratory, injunctive and other appropriate relief. Jurisdiction of the Court is invoked pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-5(f)(3) and 28 U.S.C. §§ 1332, 1337 and 1343(4).

This matter is presently before the Court upon defendants' motions to dismiss or, in the alternative, for summary judgment. Also before the Court are defendant Eastern's motion for a protective order as to trade secrets and plaintiffs' motion to compel answers to interrogatories and requests for production of documents. Upon the briefs, affidavits and oral arguments of the parties in support of and in opposition to these motions, the Court deems them ripe for disposition.

I.

The relevant facts alleged by plaintiffs in this matter are as follows: Plaintiff Burwell was first employed by Eastern as a flight attendant in October of 1964. On May 13, 1970, pursuant to Eastern's mandatory policy, she informed Eastern that she was pregnant and was thereupon terminated without pay, accrual of seniority, insurance benefits and other privileges as an Eastern employee. After delivering her child, she returned to work on December 29, 1970. As a result of her termination, plaintiff Burwell lost approximately ten positions on the seniority roster. Also, prior to her re-employment, she received no salary from Eastern and was required to pay $750.00 in medical bills as well as the total amount of the insurance premiums to maintain the Eastern sponsored insurance plan. From December 1970 to July 1974, she was outbid for flights and was unable to maintain the same schedule or to work the desired number of hours because of her lower position on the seniority roster.

On June 14, 1972, plaintiff Proctor was terminated by Eastern as a flight attendant as a result of her being pregnant. Her pregnancy terminated in the birth of a child in September of 1972 and she exercised her re-employment rights with Eastern on or about November 26, 1972. Plaintiff Proctor alleges that as a result of her termination she, too, suffered all of the losses and injuries set forth by plaintiff Burwell during the five and one-half month period prior to her re-employment.

On April 3, 1973, another Eastern female flight attendant, one Patricia Healen, filed suit in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia against Eastern and the Union on behalf of herself and a class consisting of flight attendants based at Eastern's Atlanta facility. The suit complained of some of the same discriminatory policies and practices challenged in the instant matter.

On July 1, 1973, defendants Eastern and the Union entered into a collective bargaining agreement that provided for the restoration of seniority for those persons who had lost seniority after July 1, 1972 under Eastern's maternity policy.

On August 8, 1973, plaintiff Burwell filed charges with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (hereinafter "EEOC") against Eastern and Local 550. In her complaint, she stated:

I and all other women at Eastern Air Lines are being discriminated against because of our sex in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. In 1970 I was out seven months because of pregnancy and child birth. During that period I was not permitted to use my sick leave or accrue seniority. It is the policy of the company to permit all employees to have leave of absences due to illness up to three years while accruing seniority, but only in the case of maternity are you required to take leave without getting sick leave. Stewardesses must go on unpaid maternity leave as soon as they know of their pregnancy or they will be fired. Maternity is the only type of disability treated this way. The company has an agreement with the all-male pilots union that provides for five years leave of absence while accruing seniority. I believe this action is continuing because my loss of seniority has kept me from better runs. I awaited the outcome of the new contract, but the new provisions disbanding this procedure only applied retroactively to July 1, 1972. Since seniority controls overtime and base salary, I am affected every day by this policy. There are many other policies that affect all stewardesses that should be investigated.

After filing her charges, plaintiff Burwell again became pregnant during the fall of 1973. She suffered a miscarriage, however, in November of 1973 and was out of work for approximately three weeks.

On April 12, 1974, an order was entered in Healen v. Eastern Air Lines, Inc., No. 18,097 (N.D.Ga.), approving a compromise settlement whereby Eastern, in return for plaintiffs' agreement to dismiss with prejudice all claims, agreed to grant retroactive seniority accrual to all flight attendants system-wide for their pre-July 1, 1972 maternity leave periods. Following this settlement, in June of 1974, Eastern announced that it would generally reinstate seniority lost due to pregnancy during the period prior to July 1, 1972. Plaintiffs here allege, however, that Eastern did not compensate female flight attendants for lost earnings and other losses which they had suffered as a result of Eastern's previous denial of seniority.

On July 1, 1974, plaintiff Burwell requested and was issued a Notice of Right to Sue letter by the EEOC and on September 27, 1974 this suit was filed. In their complaint, plaintiffs allege the aforementioned facts. They also state that, at the time of suit, plaintiff Proctor was pregnant and had been terminated on September 3, 1974 as an Eastern flight attendant although she was able to perform fully and properly all of her duties and desired to continue working. Plaintiffs further allege that Eastern's current policies and practices with regard to maternity leave discriminate against them in that the same policies do not apply to other types of interruption in employment, including other types of physical incapacity or illness. They contend that Eastern's practice includes, but is not limited to, the following specific discriminatory procedures:

1. Terminating female flight attendants as soon as pregnancy is known, without regard to differing individual abilities to work;

2. Denying employees terminated because of pregnancy the following benefits: (a) the use of sick leave or vacation time; (b) accrual of sick leave and of vacation and seniority credit; (c) the disability benefits provided for employees unable to work because of non-occupational accident or sickness; and (d) other employment benefits;

3. Denying employees terminated because of pregnancy the use of Eastern identification cards and passes on Eastern and other airlines and requiring that these documents, as well as uniforms and other work-related materials, be immediately surrendered to Eastern;

4. Denying employees who are re-employed after pregnancy termination accrual of sick leave credit at the same rate as applies when employees return from sick leave;

5. Requiring employees who wish to be re-employed after a pregnancy termination to pass an Eastern physical examination not required of employees returning from sick leave;

6. Requiring employees who wish to be re-employed after a pregnancy termination to complete a new employment application as though they had never been previously employed by Eastern, something not required of employees returning from any sort of leave;

7. Requiring employees terminated because of pregnancy to exercise their re-employment rights within ninety (90) days of the date of birth unless Eastern's physician certifies medical incapacity, and terminating those rights in any event after six months from the date of birth without regard for individual ability to return to work and notwithstanding that leaves of absence on account of sickness or injury or other circumstances are available for a period of three years;

8. Denying employees terminated because of pregnancy the opportunity to be transferred to non-flight positions, notwithstanding that such opportunities are available to employees who are unable to fly because of any other physical incapacity, injury or sickness;

9. Denying employees pregnancy benefits under a group medical insurance plan in amounts equal to the benefits paid for comparable non-pregnancy-related claims.

With regard to defendant Locals 550 and 553, plaintiffs allege that they have participated with Eastern in discriminating against them and the class they represent by negotiating and perpetuating a collective bargaining agreement that instituted and maintained the employment practices complained of, by actively cooperating with Eastern in maintaining and enforcing those employment practices and by failing to oppose them.

Plaintiffs further contend that the employment practices which they have described constitute intentional violations of their rights secured by Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended, and that they...