Scherr v. Woodland School Community Consol. Dist. No. 50, s. 87-1275
| Decision Date | 08 February 1989 |
| Docket Number | Nos. 87-1275,87-1682 and 87-1705,s. 87-1275 |
| Parties | 48 Fair Empl.Prac.Cas. 386, 48 Empl. Prac. Dec. P 38,399, 51 Ed. Law Rep. 1140 Susan SCHERR, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. WOODLAND SCHOOL COMMUNITY CONSOLIDATED DISTRICT NO. 50, Defendant-Appellee. Rebecca MAGANUCO, on behalf of herself and numerous others who are similarly situated, Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. LEYDEN COMMUNITY HIGH SCHOOL DISTRICT 212, Defendant-Appellee. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Seventh Circuit |
Stephen A. Yokich, Cornfield & Feldman, Chicago, Ill., for plaintiff-appellant.
Jennifer A. Keller, Robbins, Schwartz, Nicholas, Lifton & Taylor, Ltd., J. Todd Faulkner, Klein, Thorpe & Jenkins, Chicago, Ill., for defendant-appellee.
Before CUMMINGS, WOOD, Jr., and MANION, Circuit Judges.
In March 1983, Rebecca Maganuco filed suit against Leyden Community High School District 212 alleging that the school district's maternity leave policy violated Sections 703(a)(1) and (a)(2) of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 ("the Act"), 42 U.S.C. Sec. 2000e-2(a)(1) and (2), as amended by the Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1978 ("PDA"), 42 U.S.C. Sec. 2000e(k). In November 1984, Susan Scherr filed suit against Woodland School Community Consolidated District No. 50 similarly alleging that her school district's maternity leave policy violated Title VII. The district courts granted summary judgments in favor of the defendant school districts under both disparate treatment and disparate impact theories of liability. We reverse in part and remand.
Rebecca Maganuco, a tenured teacher at Leyden Community High School ("Leyden"), became pregnant in 1981 and in June of that year informed the defendant school district that she planned to use accumulated paid sick leave to cover the period she expected to be disabled due to her pregnancy, and that as soon as she was no longer disabled, she planned to take an unpaid maternity leave for the remainder of the 1981-1982 school year. Despite her request to combine paid sick leave and an unpaid leave of absence to accommodate the period in which she was disabled as well as the period she chose to remain at home to care for her child, the school district's policy forced her to choose between taking either paid sick leave for the period in which she was disabled due to her pregnancy and delivery of her child, with an immediate return to work at the termination of her disability, or unpaid leave for both the period she was disabled and the period she remained at home to provide childcare.
Susan Scherr, a tenured teacher at Woodland School Community Consolidated District No. 50 ("Woodland"), became pregnant and requested paid sick leave from April 18, 1983 through the end of the 1982-1983 school year and a maternity leave for the 1983-1984 school year. Although Scherr was disabled from April 18 through the end of the 1982-1983 school year, Woodland did not allow her to take paid sick leave for this time. Instead, it required her to take an unpaid maternity leave for the entire period beginning April 18, 1983 through the 1983-1984 school year.
Each woman filed a suit alleging that her school district's leave policies discriminated against pregnant women. In both suits, the plaintiffs argued for liability under both disparate treatment and disparate impact theories and asked for monetary damages for the days they were disabled but did not receive paid sick leave as well as permanent injunctive relief against the allegedly discriminatory maternity leave policies.
In Maganuco v. Leyden Community High School District 212, the parties filed cross-motions for summary judgment. On October 24, 1984, Judge Paul E. Plunkett denied Maganuco's motion for summary judgment, granted Leyden's motion for summary judgment on Maganuco's disparate treatment theory and denied Leyden's motion for summary judgment on Maganuco's disparate impact theory. The parties filed cross-motions for reconsideration and on June 7, 1985, Judge Plunkett reaffirmed his decision. The case was transferred to Judge Ann Williams and the parties proceeded with their preparations for trial on the disparate impact theory.
Meanwhile, the parties in Scherr v. Woodland Community Consolidated School District No. 50, which was also before Judge Williams, filed cross-motions for summary judgment. On December 15, 1986, Judge Williams denied Scherr's motion for summary judgment and granted Woodland's motion for summary judgment under both the disparate impact and disparate treatment theories. Seeking a different result on the disparate impact theory in a factually similar case also before Judge Williams, the parties in Maganuco renewed their cross-motions for summary judgment. Stating that it would be anomalous for the court to allow Maganuco to go to trial on the disparate impact claim when it had already held in Scherr that such a claim could not succeed, Judge Williams disagreed with Judge Plunkett and granted defendant Leyden's motion for summary judgment. Both plaintiffs appealed and this Court consolidated the cases.
Both school districts provide teachers three types of leave: (1) paid sick leave--with continuing unpaid sick leave for extended illness, (2) unpaid maternity leave, and (3) an unpaid general leave of absence. In both school districts, a pregnant teacher can choose only one of the three forms of leave.
The school districts have similar paid sick leave policies. Teachers employed by Leyden accumulate 17 paid days of sick leave per year and unused days accumulate from year to year up to a maximum of 180 days. Teachers who exhaust their accumulated sick leave may be granted an extended, unpaid, personal illness leave to cover the period during which they remain disabled. Pregnant teachers may elect to use their accumulated sick leave to cover the period during which they are disabled; those who do are paid for the days they are disabled and must return to work as soon as they are no longer disabled.
Teachers employed by Woodland accumulate 11 days of paid sick leave per year and may accumulate up to 180 days. Teachers who exhaust their paid sick leave may be eligible, after a one-day waiting period, for up to 10 additional days of paid sick leave from the sick-leave "bank." Teachers who remain disabled after exhausting the sick-leave bank are eligible for unpaid "continuing illness" leave for the longer of 90 days or the remainder of the school year, although the Board of Education may at its discretion extend the leave for the duration of the disability. A teacher may elect to use disability leave (i.e., sick days, sick-bank days or continuing illness leave) during any period of disability related to her pregnancy and/or to the delivery of the child. Any teacher who elects disability leave must return to work immediately following the termination of the disability.
Both school districts also provide unpaid maternity leave as of right. At Leyden, any tenured teacher who becomes pregnant will be granted a maternity leave of up to three semesters, commencing on the date her doctor considers her unable to carry on her teaching duties. The teacher must give the administration no less than 60 days notice prior to the leave and at least 90 days notice prior to the end of the preceding semester of the date when she wants to start work. The administration may delay her return until the beginning of the school year following her request to return. Any teacher who opts for maternity/child-rearing leave must forgo the benefit of receiving paid sick leave for the period she is actually disabled due to the child's birth. However, paid sick leave is available prior to the commencement of a scheduled maternity/child-rearing leave if the teacher becomes ill, whether or not the illness is related to her pregnancy.
The terms of Woodland's unpaid maternity leave plan are provided in the Collective Bargaining Agreement between the teachers' union and Woodland. Under the plan, teachers must schedule the leave in consultation with the Superintendent. The agreed-upon leave plan must be scheduled to take into consideration maintenance of continuity of instruction and medical factors to the maximum degree possible and must commence upon the earliest of (1) fifteen days prior to the anticipated delivery date, (2) the actual delivery date, or (3) the date on which the teacher becomes unable to perform her duties. The leave cannot exceed the balance of the school term in which it commences and one additional term, and every effort must be made to have the leave terminate prior to the start of a new school term. A teacher who elects to take a maternity leave and then becomes ill prior to the scheduled commencement of the leave, may use her sick days even if the illness is due to her pregnancy. However, the collective bargaining agreement expressly states that sick leave is not applicable during the period of the maternity leave; as a result, since maternity leave must begin at the latest date prior to the actual delivery date, a pregnant teacher who chooses maternity leave cannot take paid sick days for the period during which she is disabled. Woodland's maternity leave policy also expressly states that nothing in the policy shall be construed as requiring any teacher to apply for a maternity leave and reasserts the independent option of using accumulated sick leave during any period of disability related to her pregnancy or the delivery of the child and returning to work immediately following the termination of the disability.
Finally, both school districts provide for an unpaid general leave of absence. Under the Leyden policy, any tenured teacher may request a leave of absence and at least one-half of those applying each year must be granted this leave. In practice, all ten requests for general leave during the time period relevant to ...
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