Supreme Court: Pregnancy Leave Not Counted in Pension Eligibility

Employment and Labor Law News – National May 18, 2009

Washington – The Supreme Court has ruled that the pregnancy leave taken by women workers cannot be counted when deciding on one’s pension eligibility. By a vote of 7-2, the High Court decided in favor of the company which argued that the pregnancy leave are excluded from pension calculations.

The ruling was made in a discrimination case that involved four AT&T Corporation employees, led by Noreen Hulteen, who worked in the San Francisco Bay area. Noreen claimed she was owed six months credit, the same amount a disabled worker would receive while on leave. The claim was filed through their union, the Communication Workers of America.

Previously, a federal appeals court in San Francisco had rejected the company’s arguments that the pension plan was legal when the women took their leave, so they should now not have to give back the credited time for pension calculations.

However complications may arise as the Lilly Ledbetter Act provides that “every new paycheck received over the years based on a discriminatory act, regardless of when the first discrimination occurred, would extend the statute of limitations 180 days.

Debra Ness, president of the National Partnership for Women & Families said the decision was untimely. "In the current economic climate, women and their families cannot afford to see their retirement benefits kept lower by discriminatory workplace policies that should have been remedied decades ago,” Ness remarked.

Some equal workplace advocates called the Hulteen ruling a "terrible blow."