Developments in the Law for Women

By Mary Walsh

Lizabeth Moody, Professor of Law at Cleveland State University and a co-founder of the Women's Law Fund, recently gavé a lecture on developments in the laws affecting women, as part of CSU's "Perspectives on Women" course.

Prior to the 1960's discrimination against women was not recognized as a problem in U.S. society, and the few cases brought in the courts to fight sex discrimination met with little success. Now, as in the past, most of the gains which women have won have come about as a result of the legislative rather than the judicial process.

In the 1960's, women began winning rights in the employment area, notably with Congress' passage of the Equal Pay Act of 1963, which prohibited discrimination by employers on the basis of sex in wages paid for "equal work on jobs the performance of which requires equal skill, effort and responsibility and which are performed under similar working conditions...." The Fair Labor Standards Amendments of 1974 substantially enlarged the scope of coverage of this act and narrowed many exemptions, most importantly by including employees of Federal and state public agencies within its coverage.

Remedies against sex discrimination were broadened in 1964 with passage of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, prohibiting discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex or national origin by employers, employment agencies and labor organizations. Title VII applies to hiring, discharge, compensation, promotion, training, classification, apprenticeship, referrals for employment, union memberships, and "terms, conditions and privileges of employment". As passed, however, Title VII excluded many jobs traditionally held by women, such as teaching and nursing; this situation was not remedied until 1972 when amendments to Title VII added schools and hospitals to the list of employers covered by the act.

Also in the late 1960's and early 1970's, many state and local laws were passed prohibiting sex discrimination in employment, although some of them tended to protect women right out of certain jobs by setting restrictions on the amount of weight they could lift or other such measures.

In the area of sex discrimination, cases often arose which challenged employment practices treating men and women differently as being outside the "bona fide occupational qualification" (BFOQ) exemption allowed by the Act. For instance, in a case involving airline stewardesses, it was found that being pretty was not a BFOQ-hence the recent proliferation of male stewards on airlines.

During the 1970's, the primary issues in the sex discrimination area concerned reproductive rights, including pregnancy and maternity. The January 22, 1973 decision making abortion legal was clearly one of the greatest victories women have won in the courts, although it is now under severe attack by conservatives. However, the Supreme Court's wisdom was short-lived: in the 1974 case of Gilbert v. General Electric Co., the Court decided that pregnancy.was not a sex discrimination issue, and laid down factually neutral rules dealing with classes of pregnant and non-pregnant persons. It took an act of Congress to restore proper perspective-the Pregnancy Act, which held pregnancy to be the same as any other temporary disa' iity and made it unlawful under Title VII to disc..minate against pregnant women.

In the late .970's, one of the most important issues to be raised was sex discrimination in pension benefits and insurance. Since women usually live longer than men, most carriers required women to pay a higher premium for annuities and a lower one for life insurance: The Supreme Court held this il-

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legal under Title VII; people are individuals, and mortality tables should not be sex-based. This issue will continue to be litigated in the future, and other pension and life insurance plans will have to change accordingly.

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In the area of government pensions, survivors of male employees automatically received benefits, but those of female employees did not. The Supreme Court held that requiring a man to prove he was dependent upon a woman worker, while not requiring the same proof of a widow of a government worker, was discrimination against women workers since their survivors were not automatically provided for. However, the Court also held that a Florida statute exempting widows but not widowers from the payment of certain property taxes was constitutional,

since the object of the statute was to reduce the economic disparity under which widows usually suffer.

Another important area in the late 1970's was sexual harassment. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has recently promulgated new guidelines which look at the totality of the circumstances in which a worker may be subjected to sexual harassment; further, the Supreme Court has held that an employer has a duty to supervise its workers and to punish sexual harassment. If the employer fails to take action to end the harassment,

*LOCAL NEWS

it is liable for damages to the harassed employee. During the 1980's, several new issues are surfacing. Perhaps the most volatile now is that of equal pay for jobs of comparable work-the idea that compensation should be made for the worth of a job. Women have met with little success in the courts on this issue, and the ultimate remedy is likely to be legislative rather than judicial.

Another issue which will dominate the 1980's is that of the draft. The Supreme Court only recently decided to hear a case which held the draft unconstitutional because it applies only to men. Also still important are the areas of affirmative action and reverse discrimination: although the Supreme Court upheld affirmative action in the Webber case, some of Reagan's advisers have made threatening noises against it.

Lifestyle issues will also become prominent in the coming decade, including the relationships between people who live together. The Marvin case is sure to start a trend of "palimony" actions, and the extent to which there is a contractual relationship between non-married people who live together will undoubtedly be repeatedly litigated. Another issue on the horizon is whether there is impermissible discrimination in the fact that married people who make about the same income pay higher taxes than comparable singles who live together but file separately.

The areas of alimony and child custody are changing greatly, probably as a backlash to the women's movement. Men can now get alimony, although few women ever did (about 21 percent nationally). Men are also getting custody of children far more frequently than ever before-and child support as well.

Moody pointed out that litigation serves good purposes: it enforces individual rights and brings attention to the great issues of a changing society. But in general, women have not made much progress in the courts; most of women's gains have been and will continue to be through the legislative branch of government.

RTA Remains Indifferent

There were three rapes at the West Park rapid station on weekend afternoons this September. A study contracted by RTA said at least 150 security guards are needed to protect the system; however, RTA has only 29 transit police. The number of transit police has not increased since 1975, while ridership has increased fifty percent.

In 1978, the U.S. Court of Appeals, Third Circuit, ruled that the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority was liable for a rape at a station because there was inadequate lighting and staff attention. The woman raped on the RTA premises was awarded a large cash settlement. Despite these facts, RTA maintains it is in the transportation business, not the security business.

The women of Cleveland say: Our safety is RTA's business.

Greater Cleveland women will meet again with RTA to demand better security on December 10 at 7:30 p.m. in the Erie/Ontario Room, Old Stone Church, 91 Public Square. Attending the meeting will be Harry Alexander, Chairman of the Board of RTA; Cleveland Police Chief Hanton; John Terango, Director of Transportation at RTA; Sarah Vigil, RTA Board member; representatives of more than 30 women's and community groups; and concerned women.

The meeting will include a slide presentation prepared by members of Take Back the Night who are visiting bus and rapid stations at various times of day, interviewing women using RTA services. TBN is

surveying rapid and bus stops for adequate lighting and for security. We'll present slides and taped interviews at the meeting as a graphic depiction of the current state of RTA security.

Editorial Notes (continued from page 1) of WSW, we would like to know about it. If it is a reflection of the economic times, think about how much WSW offers you the next time you spend $6.00 for dinner or a show. If it is a sign of a general apathy, then we will have to decide whether producing a women's newspaper for the benefit of a few is enough to keep us going.

So do yourself and us the favor of taking out a subscription for yourself or a friend. If you already have a subscription, why not renew it early? And, if you can, make it a contributing or sustaining subscription this time around.

Mary Lou Hamilton, free-lance fashion illustrator from Chagrin Falls, died unexpectedly in Columbus, Ohio, on Sunday, November 30. Wife of accountant Steve Hamilton and mother of two sons, Mary Lou had recently begun a new aspect of her career with the design of the "seven-fold sun circle", a mandala with Masonic and Jungian significance, for the 1979 translation of the Magic Flute libretto by local music historian Judith Eckelmeyer, Mary Lou's sense for both visual and inner beauty will be remembered by those who knew and worked with her.

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