Ruling affects women who took leave before 1979 anti-discrimination law
Women in the United States who took pregnancy leaves before 1979 will not be able to use that time when calculating pension eligibility, according to a U.S. Supreme Court ruling.
The Pregnancy Discrimination Act (PDA) came into effect in 1979 and requires companies to treat pregnancy leave as it would any disability and credit that time toward retirement.
The question before the Supreme Court was whether women, who gave birth before the law came into force, should have full pension credit for their leave.
Four San Francisco AT&T workers brought the case to the country's highest court with the help of their union the Communications Workers of America.
In a 7-2 ruling, the court found the company's pre-PDA decision to not award pension credit for pregnancy leave was not discriminatory.
"Bona fide seniority systems allow, among other things, for predictable financial consequences, both for the employer who pays the bill and for the employee who gets the benefit," wrote Justice David Souter.
