United States Ninth Circuit

In an action challenging AT&T's use of a facially discriminatory service credit policy to calculate employee pension and retirement benefits, summary judgment for plaintiffs is affirmed where: 1) the district court correctly held that a prior decision compelled a conclusion that AT&T violated Title VII by failing to credit pre-Pregnancy Discrimination Act pregnancy leave when it calculated benefits owed plaintiffs; and 2) intervening Supreme Court authority was not irreconcilable with that circuit precedent.

Appellate Information

• Argued 10/04/2006
• Decided 08/17/2007
• Published 08/17/2007

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.