In March 1997, the EEOC's Phoenix office filed this suit in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Mexico against Horizon/CMS Healthcare Corporation, a state-wide proprietor of over 20 long-term care facilities, alleging violations of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended by the Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1978. In essence, the EEOC claimed that the defendant violated the law when it refused to provide modified job duties for several pregnant CNAs who were placed on lifting restrictions by their physicians and instead terminated their jobs or laid them off. There were a couple major discovery battles in the spring of 1998 that went to the EEOC. Each side moved for summary judgment and, in June 1998, a motion hearing resulted in the EEOC's loss of its disparate impact claim. There was a six day jury trial in September 1998 but, upon its conclusion, the court granted the defendant's motion to dismiss pursuant to FRCP Rule 52(c). The EEOC appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit but, upon appealing, dropped their appeal of the dismissal and instead pursued an appeal of the District Court's grant of summary judgment for the defendant on the disparate impact claim. The Tenth Circuit reversed and remanded in October 2000. The parties had received a new trial date in the District Court but, in August 2001, submitted a stipulation of dismissal with prejudice that ended the case. The stipulation's terms specify that the court would retain jurisdiction over the case for three years to "ensure that both parties abide by their respective obligations." But the filed document does not specify what those obligations were.

Margo Schlanger - 08/07/2007


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