Stuppiello v. ITT Avionics Div., AFL-CI
| Decision Date | 03 April 1978 |
| Docket Number | T,L,AFL-CIO and L,A,No. 77-1348,AFL-CI,77-1348 |
| Citation | 575 F.2d 430 |
| Parties | 17 Fair Empl.Prac.Cas. 525, 16 Empl. Prac. Dec. P 8268 Peter STUPPIELLO, for himself and all other men similarly situated, Local 447 International Union of Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers,ocal 400 International Union of Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers,ocal 1703 International Union of Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers,ppellants, v. ITT AVIONICS DIVISION and ITT Defense Communications Division, Divisions of International Telephone and Telegraph Corporation, a Maryland corporation, Defendants and Third-Party Plaintiffs, v. INTERNATIONAL UNION OF ELECTRICAL, RADIO AND MACHINE WORKERS,hird-Party Defendant. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Third Circuit |
Ruth Blumrosen, Alfred W. Blumrosen, Newark, N. J., for appellant Peter Stuppiello, et al.
Sidney Reitman, Kapelsohn, Lerner, Reitman & Maisel, Newark, N. J., for appellants Local 447 Intern. Union of Elect., Radio and Machine Workers, AFL-CIO, et al.
Thomas L. Morrissey, Laurence Reich, Carpenter, Bennett & Morrissey, Newark, N. J., for appellee.
Before ROSENN and HIGGINBOTHAM, Circuit Judges, and VAN ARTSDALEN, District Judge. *
Peter Stuppiello brought an action under section 703(a) of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 as amended, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-2(a) (the "Act"), 1 charging International Telephone and Telegraph Corporation and its several divisions (the "Company") 2 with sex discrimination in the operation of its employee pension plan. The district court entered summary judgment in favor of the Company and plaintiffs appealed. We affirm.
For many years the Company had funded for its employees at its New Jersey plants a non-contributory pension plan which discriminated in favor of women, permitting them to retire at an earlier age than men with the same credited service and with more favorable benefits. Effective September 10, 1964, a new non-discriminatory pension plan was initiated which provided identical mandatory and elective retirement ages and terms of service for both men and women. A dispute arose between the local unions of the International Union of Electrical, Radio, and Machine Workers, AFL-CIO (the "Union"), representing the employees, and the Company as to whether employees working after the effective date of the new plan could become eligible for pensions under the old discriminatory plan. The dispute led to a strike which was ultimately settled in January 1965.
The strike settlement agreement provided for the freezing of the "accrued benefits" under the old pension plan as of September 9, 1964. Precisely what this provision meant kindled yet another dispute between the parties. The Company took the position that an employee who did not qualify for retirement under the terms of the old plan on the last effective date, September 9, 1964, could not retire thereafter under the terms of the old plan; he would then be bound by the retirement qualifications of the new plan. The Union, on the other hand, took the position that the agreement merely froze the amount of benefits payable as of the last day of the old plan, but that employees could qualify for that level of benefits even if they attained the requisite age and service after September 9, 1964. This dispute, along with other issues pertaining to pensions, became the basis of litigation in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York between the Union as plaintiff and the Company as defendant. This action was settled in October 1967. The settlement resulted in a compromise embodied in section 4.04(c) of the 1967 Pension Plan. 3 It provided that if an employee's service was discontinued by the Company through no fault of the employee and he would have qualified for early retirement benefits under the old plan had he been terminated on or before October 1, 1967, then he would be entitled to early retirement benefits pursuant to the schedule of the old plan.
Plaintiff Stuppiello's services were terminated through no fault of his own by the defendant in June 1968 after he had accumulated 23 years of credited service at the age of 45. He was entitled to deferred vested benefits of $932.60 per annum payable at age 65 or $373.04 per annum payable at age 55. If he were a female, however, Stuppiello would have been entitled to an early retirement pension of $1,029 commencing August 1, 1968, which would have been reduced at age 62 to $655 annually. In addition, had he been a female, he would be entitled to receive a vested pension of $179.60 annually at age 65 or $71.88 if paid at age 55. Moreover, the Company would have continued to pay premiums to maintain Blue Cross-Blue Shield benefits for him and a life insurance policy in the amount of $4,300.
The plaintiff Stuppiello and the local unions filed a complaint on behalf of all employees of the defendant in the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey on November 15, 1972. They sought a judgment declaring that extending the right to qualify under the old pension plan violated the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended, because of its sexually discriminatory provisions. Additionally, they asked for injunctive relief to restrain the Company from engaging in unlawful pension plan practices, for an accounting to those male employees denied pension rights and benefits because of the sex-based disparate treatment, and for money damages. 4 Stuppiello moved for a judgment of liability asserting that the new plan discriminates against him in violation of the Act because he is a male. The defendant moved for summary judgment contending that the new plan does not discriminate with respect to pension credits earned after the Act's effective date. The district court first granted Stuppiello's motion for summary judgment but subsequently, upon further consideration, entered summary judgment in favor of the Company. 5
The district court found that The district court carefully analyzed our opinion in Rosen v. Public Service Electric and Gas Company, 477 F.2d 90 (3d Cir. 1973) (Rosen II ), and concluded that Rosen forbids a damage award on account of discriminatory treatment of the pre-Act service "and since the pension sought by Stuppiello would be calculated on a base using only pre-Act service, that case forbids an award to him." We agree.
On appeal to this court, plaintiffs essentially contend that Rosen is inapplicable and if applicable should be reconsidered. They also argue that the awarding of a pension to Stuppiello would not involve the retroactive application of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act.
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 became effective July 2, 1965. Almost nine months earlier, the Company funded a new plan which, as we have previously indicated, contained identical pension benefits for both male and female employees. Accrued benefits under the old pension plan were frozen as of September 9, 1964. The compromise settlement growing out of the litigation in the Southern District of New York in no way altered the new pension plan. The Company merely agreed to extend the period of eligibility for early retirement benefits under the old plan from September 9, 1964, to October 1, 1967. No disparity arises from the extension because benefits were based solely upon pre-Title VII service. Employees, male or female, who qualified for pension benefits during the extended period would have been entitled only to the amount of benefits accrued as of the effective date of the Act.
Plaintiffs contend that merely working after July 2, 1965, "produces the post-Act discrimination in eligibility for a pension." The basis for this contention is that if a male and female employee had the same length of service with the Company and were of the same age, employment between July 2, 1965, and October 1, 1967, would have enabled the female to acquire the right to a pension if she were discharged without fault and "(1) entered the 40-50 age bracket and/or (2) acquired 20 years length of service . . . or (3) had acquired 20 years of service and reached the 40-50 age range before September 9, 1964" and that Stuppiello, as a male, would not be eligible if he had met all of the above criteria. The answer to this contention is two-fold. First, under the plan a female employee with the same age and service credits as Stuppiello would have been over 40 years of age and would have had more than 20 years of service on July 1, 1965, thereby qualifying her under section 4.04(c) of the plan prior to the effective date of Title VII. Therefore, extending the eligibility period after the effective date of the Act would not...
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...Title VII is not jurisdictional, but rather is subject to the principles of equitable tolling. See also Stuppiello v. ITT Avionics Division, 575 F.2d 430, 432 n.4 (3d Cir. 1978); Garvin v. American Life Insurance Co., 416 F.Supp. 1087 (D.Del.1976). Although the appellate court did not addre......
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...VII may be cured retroactively. For its part, the Bank has cited two that reject such a proposition. See Stuppiello v. ITT Avionics Division, 575 F.2d 430, 433-34 (3d Cir.1978); Rosen v. Public Service Electric and Gas Co., 477 F.2d 90, 96 (3d Cir.1973). Neither explains its conclusions in ......
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