Women Win Nationwide Sex Discrimination Case Against Union Pacific; Railroad's Refusal to Cover Contraception in Worker Health Plans Violates Law.

OMAHA, Neb. -- Two female plaintiffs, one from Missouri and another from Idaho, won an important victory late Friday when the U.S. District Court for the District of Nebraska ruled that Union Pacific's decision to exclude prescription contraception coverage in its health plans for unionized employees is sex discrimination in violation of Title VII of the Federal Civil Rights Act of 1964. Title VII is the nation's foremost law against race and sex discrimination in employment.

The plaintiffs represent a class of current and former Union Pacific employees. The victory marks a major milestone in Planned Parenthood of Western Washington's Fair Access to Contraception Project, which began in 2000 with the filing of the landmark case Erickson v. Bartell Drug Co. to encourage employers to include prescription contraception and related medical services in employee health care plans.

In the Union Pacific Railroad Employment Practices Litigation, a legal battle spanning three and a half years, Union Pacific has refused to provide contraceptive benefits to its unionized employees, claiming that "because fertility is 'normal,' contraception is not 'medically necessary.'" Rejecting Union Pacific's claim at summary judgment, Judge Laurie Smith Camp wrote that "Union Pacific's policy of excluding prescription contraceptives and related outpatient services from its Plans... violates Title VII because it treats medical care women need to prevent pregnancy less favorably than it treats medical care needed to prevent other medical conditions that are no greater threat to employees' health than is pregnancy."

In an attempt to bridge the gender gap in attitude toward the prevention and treatment of illness, Judge Smith Camp used a provocative sex-neutral hypothetical of pregnancy to determine whether Union Pacific covers medicine or medical services to prevent employees from developing diseases or conditions that pose an equal or lesser threat to employees' health than pregnancy.

Judge Smith Camp wrote: "His pain increases and accelerates over approximately 15 hours as his genital opening, usually the size of a pencil lead, is stretched to a diameter of 10 centimeters." (Order at pages 13-14.)

The court will determine whether an evidentiary hearing is needed on the issues of injunctive relief, damages and attorneys fees.

"We are pleased with the court ruling, which means that Union Pacific, one of the last big employers in the country that had refused to cover contraception, must now include this essential health care in all of its worker health plans," said Roberta Riley, one of the attorneys for plaintiffs and a staff attorney for Planned Parenthood of Western Washington (PPWW).

In 2001, Riley and PPWW won the first federal court ruling for contraceptive coverage in Erickson v. Bartell Drug Co., decided by the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington. The latest studies show that 88 percent of employer health plans currently provide coverage for all methods of prescription contraception, due in large part to legal advocacy.

The plaintiff class representatives are Brandi Standridge, a 25-year-old trainman and engineer for Union Pacific who lives in Pocatello, Idaho and Kenya Phillips, a 32-year-old engineer who lives near Kansas City, Mo. "We are thrilled with the court ruling and simply want Union Pacific to cover all FDA-approved methods of prescription contraception and reimburse employees who had to pay for their contraception out-of-pocket," said Ms. Phillips.

Union Pacific, a publicly traded Fortune 500 company and the largest railroad in North America, has more than 48,000 employees located throughout the westernmost two-thirds of the nation.

The Honorable Laurie Smith Camp was appointed to the federal court in 2001 by President George W. Bush.

Attorneys for the plaintiff class are Roberta Riley and Kelly Reese staff attorneys at Planned Parenthood of Western Washington, David Copley and Claire Cordon at the Seattle-based firm Keller Rohrback, LLP, Missouri attorneys Rex Sharp, Rick Holtsclaw, Sly James and Michael Schleich, of the Omaha-based law firm Fraser Stryker.

For a copy of the court's decision, visit http://www.covermypills.org/latest/.