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Cincinnati Bell Pregnancy Discrimination Suit Headed for Settlement
A pregnancy discrimination suit involving more than 400 women who work or worked for Cincinnati Bell — most of them CWA members — is close to being resolved.
U.S. District Judge Sandra Beckwith has tentatively OK’d a settlement agreement that calls for service credit adjustments to let some women take advantage of an early retirement option the company offered briefly in 1995.
“This is a most favorable result for CWA-represented employees who have had to bear the burdens of the old discriminatory Bell System pregnancy policies for too long,” District 4 Vice President Jeff Rechenbach said, praising the efforts of all parties in reaching the settlement.
The suit, brought by CWA and the Equal Opportunity Employment Commission, involves women who were pregnant and employed by Cincinnati Bell before 1979, and were still working there in 1995. In all, 432 women have been identified.
Prior to 1979, pregnant women at Cincinnati Bell — and other Bell companies that CWA also has sued successfully — were treated different from workers who took medical leave for injury or illness.
“Pregnant women didn’t get service credit for the time they were out, and they also weren’t guaranteed reinstatement to their jobs,” CWA lawyer Mary O’Melveny said. “They were the only workers treated that way.”
In 1979, the federal Pregnancy Discrimination Act made such policies illegal. But Cincinnati Bell didn’t take that into account when deciding who qualified for early retirement. “Men and women who were hired at the same time weren’t being treated the same for the purposes of the early retirement program,” O’Melveny said.
Under the terms of the settlement, eligible women may receive up to 90 days of service credit for each pre-1979 pregnancy-related leave of absence. Current employees will be able to use the additional credit for the purposes of future employment benefits. Women who retired on or after Jan. 1, 1995, will have the service time credited to their pension. They will also receive a lump sum payment of money they would have earned between their retirement date and final approval of the settlement, with 8 percent interest.
The settlement will give some present employees a chance to retire if the added service credit would have entitled them to take part in the early retirement program in 1995.
All the involved women will receive formal notice of the terms by mail within 30 days. The mailings will include important documents that each woman must complete, sign and return to the company before Oct. 31, in order to be included in the settlement.
The materials will include a toll-free number for help or further information. Individuals are asked not to call the union or the company before receiving the packet. A hearing that could finalize the settlement is scheduled for 9 a.m. Dec. 4 at the federal courthouse in Cincinnati.
U.S. District Judge Sandra Beckwith has tentatively OK’d a settlement agreement that calls for service credit adjustments to let some women take advantage of an early retirement option the company offered briefly in 1995.
“This is a most favorable result for CWA-represented employees who have had to bear the burdens of the old discriminatory Bell System pregnancy policies for too long,” District 4 Vice President Jeff Rechenbach said, praising the efforts of all parties in reaching the settlement.
The suit, brought by CWA and the Equal Opportunity Employment Commission, involves women who were pregnant and employed by Cincinnati Bell before 1979, and were still working there in 1995. In all, 432 women have been identified.
Prior to 1979, pregnant women at Cincinnati Bell — and other Bell companies that CWA also has sued successfully — were treated different from workers who took medical leave for injury or illness.
“Pregnant women didn’t get service credit for the time they were out, and they also weren’t guaranteed reinstatement to their jobs,” CWA lawyer Mary O’Melveny said. “They were the only workers treated that way.”
In 1979, the federal Pregnancy Discrimination Act made such policies illegal. But Cincinnati Bell didn’t take that into account when deciding who qualified for early retirement. “Men and women who were hired at the same time weren’t being treated the same for the purposes of the early retirement program,” O’Melveny said.
Under the terms of the settlement, eligible women may receive up to 90 days of service credit for each pre-1979 pregnancy-related leave of absence. Current employees will be able to use the additional credit for the purposes of future employment benefits. Women who retired on or after Jan. 1, 1995, will have the service time credited to their pension. They will also receive a lump sum payment of money they would have earned between their retirement date and final approval of the settlement, with 8 percent interest.
The settlement will give some present employees a chance to retire if the added service credit would have entitled them to take part in the early retirement program in 1995.
All the involved women will receive formal notice of the terms by mail within 30 days. The mailings will include important documents that each woman must complete, sign and return to the company before Oct. 31, in order to be included in the settlement.
The materials will include a toll-free number for help or further information. Individuals are asked not to call the union or the company before receiving the packet. A hearing that could finalize the settlement is scheduled for 9 a.m. Dec. 4 at the federal courthouse in Cincinnati.