United States Ninth Circuit

Summary judgment for plaintiffs in a Title VII case alleging discrimination by en employer against women who took pregnancy-related leaves before 1979 is reversed where: 1) the Pregnancy Discrimination Act cannot be applied retroactively either to invalidate an original accounting scheme for pregnancy leaves or to create a current violation of Title VII by defendant; 2) plaintiffs' suit was not based on a facially discriminatory retirement system and was thus time-barred; and 3) certain case law precedent could not be viewed as binding.

Appellate Information

• Argued 10/04/2006
• Decided 03/08/2006
• Published 03/08/2006

Judges

• WARDLAW, Circuit Judge, with whom Chief Judge SCHROEDER, Judges REINHARDT, HAWKINS, GRABER, McKEOWN, WILLIAM A. FLETCHER, FISHER, GOULD, PAEZ, BERZON join, and with whom Judge RYMER joins as to Part II-B:, Before:  MARY M. SCHROEDER, Chief Circuit Judge, STEPHEN REINHARDT, DIARMUID F. O'SCANNLAIN, PAMELA ANN RYMER, HAWKINS, SUSAN P. GRABER, M. MARGARET McKEOWN, KIM McLANE WARDLAW, W. FLETCHER, RAYMOND C. FISHER, RONALD M. GOULD, RICHARD A. PAEZ, MARSHA S. BERZON, JAY S. BYBEE, and CONSUELO M. CALLAHAN, Circuit Judges.

Court

• United States Ninth Circuit

Counsel

• For Appellant:
  
• Paul D. Ramshaw, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Washington, District of Columbia, amicus curiae.


• For Appellees:
  
• Joseph R. Guerra, Sidley Austin Brown & Wood, Washington, District of Columbia, for the defendant-appellant., Henry S. Hewitt, Erickson, Beasley & Hewitt, Oakland, CA, and Blythe Mickelson and M. Suzanne Murphy, Weinberg, Roger & Rosenfeld, Oakland, CA, Judith E. Kurtz, Law Offices of Judith E. Kurtz, San Francisco, CA, Mary K. O'Melveny, Communications Workers of America, AFL-CIO, Washington, DC, Noreen Farrell, Equal Rights Advocates, San Francisco, CA, for the plaintiffs-appellees.