The Supreme Court’s recent decision in AT&T Corp. v. Hulteen bears a striking substantive resemblance to the court’s decision two years ago in Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. The latter resulted in Congress’ enactment of the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act to correct what Congress perceived to be the injustice of time-barring EEOC claims based on discriminatory pay decisions made years or decades before the claimant becomes aware of them and can seek timely recourse. It seems unlikely, however, that Hulteen will result in congressional action to remedy what some — including Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg — perceive as a legal and social injustice on the order of that presented by Ledbetter.
Reduced Pension Benefits for Pregnant AT&T Employees
For decades, AT&T provided a pension plan for employees that awarded post-retirement benefits based on seniority, as determined by reference to an employee’s total period of service less any uncredited leave time. In the 1960s and 1970s, AT&T employees received lesser pension service credit for time spent on pregnancy leave than they did for other types of disability leave. At the time, this differential treatment of pregnancy leave for purposes of pension credit was lawful as a result of the Supreme Court’s 1976 holding in General Electric Co. v. Gilbert that a disability plan that excluded from coverage disabilities related to pregnancy was not sex-based discrimination within the meaning of Title VII.
This content has been archived. It is available through our partners, LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law.
To view this content, please continue to their sites.
Not a Lexis Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
Not a Bloomberg Law Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law are third party online distributors of the broad collection of current and archived versions of ALM's legal news publications. LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law customers are able to access and use ALM's content, including content from the National Law Journal, The American Lawyer, Legaltech News, The New York Law Journal, and Corporate Counsel, as well as other sources of legal information.
For questions call 1-877-256-2472 or contact us at [email protected]
