In May 1998, the Cleveland office of the EEOC brought this class action suit against Cincinnati Bell Info et al. in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio for violation of Title VII and the Equal Pay Act. From the Consent Decree it appears that the Defendant discriminated against female employees, by denying them service credit for the period they were on maternity leave, and thus affecting their retirement benefits.

The consent decree was approved by the court in January 2001. After objections to the class by potential class members at the fairness hearing, the court issued a final order dismissing the charging party's Rule 23 and Rule 19(a) claims. The Consent Decree required the Defendant to: restore service credit which was deducted from women who took maternity leave, allow class members to retire based on their updated service credit, and provide a lump sum payment to class members who were wrongly denied a more favorable retirement plan. Additionally, the Defendant would post notice of the settlement, mail notice to all class members, and publish the notice in local papers.

Keri Livingston - 06/07/2007


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