CHICAGO -- United Airlines must rehire 1,400 flight attendants who were forced to quit their jobs under discriminatory airline rules before 1968 that forbade stewardesses to marry, a federal judge says.
U.S. District Judge James B. Moran Tuesday ordered United to add the dismissed stewardesses t its rolls of laid off employees eligible for recall on a seniority basis.
In a 62-page decision, Moran said 'it is surely beyond dispute' that when the women were forced to leave their jobs there were 'positions perceived as men's jobs, women's jobs or indeed single women's jobs.'
'Prior to the middle 60s, a flight attendant who married and did not wish to conceal that marriage left her employment. Undoubtedly, this termination was often reluctant, dictated by the absence of choice.'
Moran noted the current economic climate precludes the immediate hiring of all the dismissed attendants.
'Instead of an expanding workforce in which the claimants could be integrated without unusual adverse impact, claimants seek reinstatement in a climate of progressively curtailed employment,' Moran said.
Moran said the suit is unique because of the size of the group of women seeking reinstatement and the length of time they have waited for relief.
'As a result, immediate reinstatement of 1,400 claimants with full seniority is simply not an acceptable alternative,' he said. 'Delaying the return of the 1,400 to the workforce as openings occur helps to resolve the equitable dilemma only minimally.'
He said the airline should work out a plan that recognizes the flight attendants' right to reinstatement but protects the interest of those currently employed in the jobs.
Moran said flight attendants affected will return with the same amount of seniority they had when they left their jobs.
'To this end, United will be directed to merge the names of claimants ... into its system seniority list,' Moran said. 'The practical effect will be to treat the claimants as if they were currently furloughed employees,' he said.
The ruling was based on a suit filed by United stewardesses to protest airline rules barring married women from working as flight attendants. The rule was changed in 1968.
