COMMUNICATIONS WKRS. v. South Cent. Bell Tel. & Tel.
| Decision Date | 01 April 1981 |
| Docket Number | Civ. A. No. 73-1771,76-3206. |
| Citation | 515 F. Supp. 240 |
| Parties | COMMUNICATIONS WORKERS OF AMERICA, AFL-CIO, et al. v. SOUTH CENTRAL BELL TELEPHONE AND TELEGRAPH COMPANY. Betty M. DUBOSE v. SOUTH CENTRAL BELL TELEPHONE AND TELEGRAPH COMPANY. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Eastern District of Louisiana |
Bernard Keith Vetter, Arthur A. Lemann, New Orleans, La., for plaintiffs in case no. 73-1771.
Joseph W. Thomas, Thomas & Davis, New Orleans, La., for plaintiff in case no. 76-3206.
George W. Byrne, Jr., New Orleans, La., for defendant.
REASONS
This matter is before the Court on cross motions for summary judgment in two consolidated actions. In Civil Action No. 73-1771, (hereinafter Wilhite), a class action suit, the Communication Workers of America, AFL-CIO, and Harriet Wilhite have filed a motion for summary judgment against defendant, South Central Bell Telephone and Telegraph Company (hereinafter Bell). In Civil Action No. 76-3206 (hereinafter Dubose), Betty Dubose has likewise filed a motion for summary judgment against the same defendant, Bell. Bell has opposed both of these motions and has filed its own motion for summary judgment, seeking the dismissal of these consolidated actions.
In Wilhite, plaintiff union filed a sworn, written complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunities Commission on April 12, 1972. This complaint alleged violations by defendant of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. On April 23, 1973, plaintiff union was notified by the Commission that an actionable claim existed, and the Commission issued a right to sue letter. Accordingly, plaintiff union, joined by Harriet Wilhite, a female employee of defendant, individually and on behalf of all Bell's similarly situated non-supervisory female employees, filed a complaint on July 3, 1973. This suit was timely commenced in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana. On June 10, 1975, it was ordered that the action be stayed, pending a decision by the Supreme Court in a similar case.
On October 21, 1976, a class was certified in Wilhite by the then District Judge, Alvin Rubin, consisting of "all female non-supervisory employees of South Central Bell who allegedly suffered as a result of defendant's benefit plan during a pregnancy-related absence which, at least in part, occurred on or after October 13, 1971." Subsequently, defendant also filed a motion for summary judgment, asking that plaintiff's entire complaint be dismissed.
On October 15, 1976, a similar complaint was filed in this district against the same defendant. The plaintiff, Betty Dubose, was also a female employee of Bell. After filing charges of sex discrimination in employment practices with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Dubose received a right to sue letter, which prompted her suit. Although this suit was also filed as a class action, plaintiff never petitioned the Court to have the class certified. Consequently, the Court has treated Dubose as an individual plaintiff, not a class representative.
On January 31, 1977, defendant's motion to consolidate these two actions was granted. Subsequently, on March 10, 1977, this Court granted a partial summary judgment to defendant on one of plaintiffs' allegations. In all other respects, this motion was denied. Since that time, pursuant to recent jurisprudence involving the issues at bar, each of the plaintiffs have filed motions for summary judgment on their respective allegations. Likewise, defendant has again filed a cross motion for summary judgment seeking the dismissal of all claims asserted by plaintiffs.
Plaintiffs in the two suits are seeking similar relief: that defendant be permanently enjoined from abridging the rights of its female employees through sexually discriminatory employment policies and practices; that plaintiffs, and the persons represented, be accorded the same options as those made available to other sick or disabled employees; that plaintiffs and others adversely affected by these policies be compensated in the nature of appropriate back pay and other benefits forfeited as a result of the unlawful employment practices, including reimbursement for attorneys' fees and other costs; and that an affirmative action program be established to eliminate the effects of past discriminatory employment practices. This relief is sought pursuant to plaintiffs' motions for summary judgment on the grounds that no genuine issues of material fact exist, and plaintiffs are entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Fed.R.Civ.P. 56 places the burden of showing the absence of material factual issues on the moving party. Once this burden has been met, the Court may render judgment as a matter of law, based on the undisputed facts. Doza v. American National Insurance Company, 314 F.2d 230 (8th Cir. 1963); Fed.R.Civ.P. 56. The legal issue to be decided is whether provisions of Bell's Employee Benefits Plan and maternity leave program violate the provisions of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e et seq. The Employee Benefits Plan, which is the subject matter of this cause, was in effect from October 13, 1971 until August 7, 1977. The material facts in these two cases, relevant to the issues presented to the Court for decision, are not in dispute. Therefore, since these motions present questions of law rather than fact, summary judgment may be properly rendered in the two cases at bar.
The following material facts have been summarized for the Court and agreed to by all parties. In Dubose, plaintiff was hired by defendant Bell on February 1, 1972 as a telephone operator. On January 31, 1975, she was granted a six month maternity leave of absence through July 30, 1975. Plaintiff returned to work on April 28, 1975. During her leave of absence, plaintiff accrued only thirty additional days of service credit for seniority purposes. During the other fifty-four days of her absence, plaintiff accumulated no service credit.
Defendant does not include pregnancy-related absences in the coverage provided by its Employee Benefits Plan (the Plan). The Plan is a non-occupational sickness and accident benefits plan for all of its employees, male and female, who have been employed by Bell for a minimum of six months. During the period in question, October 13, 1971 through August 7, 1977, any absence due to a "normal" pregnancy was not included in the Plan's coverage. A leave of absence for a normal pregnancy refers solely to the amount of time necessary for actual physical childbirth and recovery. Only if physical complications in a pregnancy occurred, either before maternity leave began or after it ended, would any coverage be provided under the Plan for that period of time. Whereas sick or disabled employees received full seniority credit while on leave, up to fifty-two weeks, female employees absent because of a normal pregnancy accrued only thirty additional days of service credit. All other employees, whether on personal leave of absence or disability leave under the Plan, retained all previously accrued seniority. In Dubose, plaintiff alleges that defendant violated § 703(a)(2) of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e et seq., by not extending to female employees returning from pregnancy-related leaves of absence the same service credit which it extends to employees returning from other temporary disabilities.
In Wilhite, plaintiff was employed by Bell as a repair clerk on June 16, 1971. On March 13, 1972, plaintiff requested a leave of absence for maternity reasons. Pursuant to the provisions of the Plan, this leave of absence was considered a personal leave of absence and did not qualify as a temporary disability. Plaintiff was not guaranteed reinstatement to the same or equal position at the expiration of her leave of absence. As any other employee on unpaid personal leave of absence, a female employee on maternity leave was not guaranteed reinstatement to the same or equal position upon returning to work after a normal pregnancy. Under the Plan, any sick or disabled employee qualifying for coverage had mandatory reinstatement rights to the same position upon returning to work. In Wilhite, plaintiff alleges that Bell violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-2(a)(2), by not providing mandatory reinstatement rights to the same or an equal job position for female employees returning from maternity leave for a normal pregnancy, as Bell did for other temporarily disabled employees.
In Dubose, the question the Court must decide is whether denial of full seniority credit to female employees on maternity leave for a normal pregnancy, when compared with defendant's treatment of other temporarily disabled employees, violates § 703(a)(2) of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-2(a)(2). This is not a novel issue. The Supreme Court passed upon a similar question in Nashville Gas Co. v. Satty, 434 U.S. 136, 98 S.Ct. 347, 54 L.Ed.2d 356 (1977) (Satty). In Satty, the employer's maternity leave policy denied all previously accumulated seniority to female employees returning from such a pregnancy-related leave of absence. Female employees claimed that this practice violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-2(a)(2), which states:
In Satty, the Supreme Court first examined the challenged employment policy to determine if it was facially neutral. Finding no discrimination on the face of the policy, the Supreme Court further scrutinized the plan for a discriminatory...
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King v. South Cent. Bell Tel. and Tel. Co., AFL-CI
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