Hulteen v. AT&T Corp., 2007 WL 2332071 (9th Cir. Aug. 17, 2007) (en banc)

The federal Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1978 (PDA) became effective in 1979. Prior to the PDA, an AT&T employee who was on pregnancy leave was not awarded service credit for the period of her pregnancy leave, whereas employees who were on other temporary disability leaves received full credit for such absences. Four female employees and their union, the Communications Workers of America, challenged AT&T’s pre-PDA policy as a violation of Title VII. In an earlier three-judge panel decision, the Ninth Circuit held the PDA could not be applied retroactively and that plaintiffs’ claims were barred by the applicable statute of limitations. However, in this en banc decision, the Ninth Circuit affirmed the district court’s summary judgment against AT&T, concluding that service credit that excludes time spent on pregnancy leave violated Title VII.