Laffey v. Northwest Airlines, Inc., Civ. A. No. 2111-70.
| Citation | 374 F. Supp. 1382 |
| Decision Date | 03 April 1974 |
| Docket Number | Civ. A. No. 2111-70. |
| Parties | Mary P. LAFFEY et al., Plaintiffs, v. NORTHWEST AIRLINES, INC., Defendant. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — District of Columbia |
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Michael H. Gottesman, and Dennis D. Clark, of Bredhoff, Barr, Gottesman, Cohen & Peer, Washington, D. C., for plaintiffs.
Gilbert Feldman, of Kleiman, Cornfield & Feldman, Chicago, Ill., for Air Line Stewards and Stewardesses Assn., Intern., Transport Workers Union of America, AFL-CIO, for a portion of the trial, for plaintiffs.
Henry Halladay, and David A. Ranheim, of Dorsey, Marquart, Windhorst, West & Halladay, Minneapolis, Minn., for defendant.
Karl W. Heckman, U. S. Dept. of Labor, appeared for portions of the trial; no evidence was presented by the Department of Labor.
The Court having heretofore issued findings of fact and conclusions of law, 366 F.Supp. 763 and having held therein that defendant Northwest Airlines, Inc., violated the Equal Pay Act of 1963, 29 U.S.C. § 206(d)(1), and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-2, in enumerated respects; and all parties having filed briefs and presented oral argument with respect to the remedy questions; it is by the Court this 3rd day of April, 1974;
Ordered, as follows:
1. GENERAL INJUNCTION — The Defendant Northwest Airlines, Inc., and its officers, agents, employees, successors and all persons or organizations in active concert or participation with it, hereby are permanently enjoined and restrained from discriminating in any aspect of employment of cabin attendants on the basis of sex and from failing or refusing to fully implement, or to participate and cooperate in the implementation of, the provisions set forth in the body of this Order.
2. DEFINITIONS—For purposes of this Order, the following definitions shall apply:
(a) The term "Company" shall refer to Northwest Airlines, Inc.
(b) The term "Union" shall refer to Air Line Pilots Association, or any labor organization which succeeds it as bargaining representative of the Company's cabin attendants.
(c) The term "cabin attendant(s)" shall refer, collectively, to all American-based employees of the Company whose principal duties consist of providing inflight cabin service, whether denominated stewardess, purser, flight service attendant, steward, or otherwise.
(d) The term "Equal Pay Act plaintiff(s)" shall refer, collectively, to all female cabin attendants employed by the Company who filed timely written consents with this Court, in accordance with 29 U.S.C. § 256, to become parties plaintiff with respect to the Equal Pay Act aspects of this lawsuit.
(e) The term "Title VII plaintiff(s)" shall refer, collectively, to all female cabin attendants employed by the Company at any time on or after July 2, 1965, excluding only those who filed timely written elections with this Court to be excluded from this lawsuit in its entirety.
(f) The term "Equal Pay Act recovery period" shall refer, for each Equal Pay Act plaintiff, to the period commencing three years prior to the date said plaintiff filed a written consent with this Court and ending on the date the Company equalizes wages in accordance with Paragraph 3 of this Order.
(g) The term "salary" shall refer to pay for services performed, as well as such other benefits (e. g. paid leave, life insurance) as are computed on the basis of salary.
3. EQUALIZATION OF WAGES — AFFIRMATIVE INJUNCTION
(a) Salary: Beginning with the date of this Order, the Company shall pay all female cabin attendants the salaries prescribed in the purser pay scale (base pay, and incentive pay if any) of the then-current collective bargaining agreement. The longevity of each female cabin attendant for purposes of applying the purser pay scale shall be her system seniority. Thereafter, the Company shall not reduce the salary of any female cabin attendant below the level to which said purser pay scale entitles her at any given time, her longevity for pay purposes at such time being her system seniority.
(b) Pensions: Beginning with the date of this Order, any pension payment made to any female cabin attendant shall be computed as though said female cabin attendant had been classified and paid as a purser throughout the period of her employment as a cabin attendant.
(c) Lodging: Beginning with the date of this Order, the Company shall furnish single rooms to all female cabin attendants on layovers, which shall not be inferior in quality to those heretofore provided to male cabin attendants. Thereafter, the Company shall not assign double rooms to any female cabin attendant, nor provide rooms to any female cabin attendant inferior in quality to those heretofore provided to male cabin attendants.
(d) Uniform Cleaning Allowance: Beginning with the date of this Order, the Company shall provide a quarterly uniform cleaning allowance to each female cabin attendant in accordance with the following standards as to eligibility and amount:
(i) Eligibility: To be eligible for a uniform cleaning allowance in a particular calendar quarter, she must have been employed as a cabin attendant on the first day of that quarter and she must have been so employed for the last full calendar month preceding such first day of the quarter.
(ii) Amount: The amount of the uniform cleaning allowance in each quarter shall be $13 prorated on the basis of the time on payroll as a cabin attendant employee in such quarter.
(e) Prohibition against reducing wages to comply: The Company shall not, contrary to 29 U.S.C. § 206(d)(1), reduce the wage rate of any employee in order (a) to accomplish the equalization required by this Paragraph 3 or (b) otherwise to comply with the provisions of 29 U.S.C. § 206(d)(1).
4. INJUNCTION AGAINST FUTURE WAGE DISCRIMINATION — The Company shall not, contrary to 29 U.S.C. § 206(d)(1) or 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-2(a) and (h), discriminate on the basis of sex between cabin attendants by paying wages to cabin attendants at a rate less than the rate at which it pays wages to cabin attendants of the opposite sex for equal work on jobs the performance of which requires equal skill, effort, and responsibility and which are performed under similar working conditions.
5. MONETARY AWARD FOR THE EQUAL PAY ACT VIOLATIONS — The Company shall pay to each Equal Pay Act plaintiff the following monetary amounts:
(a) For each month during her Equal Pay Act recovery period in which she received a salary from the Company for service as a cabin attendant, the difference between the salary actually paid to her (including base pay, foreign flying supplement if any, and incentive pay if any) and the salary (base pay, and incentive pay if any) which would have been paid to her had she been compensated as a purser with longevity for pay purposes equal to her system seniority.
(b) If she received pension payments during her Equal Pay Act recovery period, the difference between the pension payments made to her and those which would have been made to her had they been computed on the basis of her having been classified and paid as a purser throughout the period of her employment as a cabin attendant.
(c) For each layover during her Equal Pay Act recovery period in which the lodging furnished by the Company required her to share a double room, the difference between one-half the value of the double room actually provided to her and the value of a single room had it been provided to her.
(d) For each calendar quarter from March 1, 1970 until the end of her Equal Pay Act recovery period, a uniform cleaning allowance in accordance with the following standards as to eligibility and amount:
(i) Eligibility: To be eligible for a uniform cleaning allowance in a particular calendar quarter, she must have been employed as a cabin attendant on the first day of that quarter and she must have been so employed for the last full calendar month preceding such first day of the quarter.
(ii) Amount: The amount of the uniform cleaning allowance in each quarter shall be $13 prorated on the basis of the time on payroll as a cabin attendant employee in such quarter.
6. BACKPAY UNDER TITLE VII FOR WAGE DISCRIMINATION AGAINST EQUAL PAY ACT PLAINTIFFS — The Company shall pay backpay to each Equal Pay Act plaintiff who was employed as a cabin attendant at any time between March 28, 1968 and the day preceding the commencement of her Equal Pay Act recovery period, to remedy the pay discrimination visited upon her during said period in violation of Title VII. The amount of backpay for each such Equal Pay Act plaintiff shall be as follows:
(a) For each month between March 28, 1968, and the day preceding the commencement of her Equal Pay Act recovery period in which she received a salary from the Company for service as a cabin attendant, the difference between the salary actually paid to her (including base pay, foreign flying supplement, if any, and incentive pay, if any) and the salary (base pay, and incentive pay, if any) which would have been paid to her had she been compensated as a purser with longevity for pay purposes equal to her system seniority.
(b) For each layover between March 28, 1968, and the day preceding commencement of her Equal Pay Act recovery period, the difference between one-half the value of the double room actually provided to her and the value of a single room had it been provided to her.
7. BACKPAY UNDER TITLE VII FOR WAGE DISCRIMINATION AGAINST TITLE VII PLAINTIFFS WHO ARE NOT ALSO EQUAL PAY ACT PLAINTIFFS—The Company shall pay backpay to each Title VII plaintiff who is not also an Equal Pay Act plaintiff to remedy the pay discrimination visited upon her in violation of Title VII. The amount of backpay for each such Title VII plaintiff shall be as follows:
(a) For each month between March 28, 1968, and the date upon which the Company equalizes wages in accordance with Paragraph 3 of this Order in which she...
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