EEOC REACHES SETTLEMENT WITH AT&T CORP. and COMMUNICATIONS WORKERS OF AMERICA, LOCAL UNION NO. 4998

PRESS RELEASE
8-28-00

For Immediate Release, August 28, 2000

FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION CONTACT:

INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA - - The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has settled a lawsuit against AT&T Corp. and the Communications Workers of America, Local Union No.4998. The suit, filed in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Indiana, Indianapolis Division, alleged that AT&T Corp. violated the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 by terminating an employee because it regarded the employee as disabled.

The EEOC alleged that the company's action was intentional and demonstrated a reckless indifference to the rights of its employee.

On August 23, 2000 the U.S. District Court signed a Consent Decree in which AT&T agreed to pay $50,000 in damages in settlement of the claim. AT&T also agreed as a part of the settlement to reinstate the employee to her former position at AT&T, with her seniority and benefits restored as though her employment with AT&T had not ended. AT&T further agreed to comply with prohibitions against discrimination and retaliation, to provide annual reports to the EEOC regarding its compliance with the Decree, and to post a notice of nondiscrimination for a period of five years.

The union was named as a defendant in the case under Rule 19(a) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, because it is a party to a collective bargaining agreement with AT&T and because, in its absence, the EEOC would have been unable to obtain complete relief.

EEOC enforces Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits employment discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex or national origin; the Age Discrimination in Employment Act; the Equal Pay Act; prohibitions against discrimination affecting individuals with disabilities in the federal sector; sections of the Civil Rights Act of 1991; and Title I of the Americans with Disabilities Act, which prohibits discrimination against people with disabilities in the private sector and state and local governments.

This page was last modified on August 28, 2000.