(Forbes.com posted the following Reuters article by Chris Stetkiewicz on March 5.)
SEATTLE — Three women workers at Union Pacific Corp. Tuesday sued the largest U.S. railroad to try to force it to add contraception coverage to its health care plan.
In a class action suit filed in federal court in Portland, Oregon, the women alleged the company violated a section of U.S. Civil Rights Act of 1964 that outlaws discrimination based on gender or pregnancy.
“There’s no use having prescription drug coverage if it singles out prescriptions that are unique to women,” said one of the three named plaintiffs, Jackie Fitzgerald, 37, of La Grande, Oregon. “While I’m spending $38.99 a month at the local pharmacy for oral contraceptives, my male co-workers are contributing to their retirement funds.”
The suit also seeks reimbursement for prescription payments as well as punitive damages, claiming the company ignored requests for coverage. The suit also names as a defendant the United Transportation Union, which represented all three women.
A spokesman for the union did not immediately return a phone call seeking comment.
Union Pacific said its health care does not shortchange women, noting that it declines to cover treatments not deemed medically necessary, such as vasectomies for men, cosmetic surgery, fertility treatments or many weight-loss procedures.
“Our feeling is that this is not sexual discrimination,” said Kathryn Blackwell, a spokeswoman for the Omaha, Nebraska-based railroad. “Our plan is based around medically necessary prescriptions and procedures.
About 5 percent of Union Pacific’s 48,000 employees are women, Blackwell said, adding that recent labor talks have not included birth control coverage and that few employees have asked for it.
Lawyers for Planned Parenthood, who are leading the plaintiffs’ case, rejected the notion that contraception was not medically necessary for women, who otherwise face unwanted pregnancies.
“There are enormous health consequences to women and children. This is basic health care for women,” said Roberta Riley, lead attorney for the plaintiffs.
Riley also helped employees of Seattle-based pharmacy chain Bartell Drug Co. win a similar lawsuit in 2001, the first federal case of its kind.
According to Planned Parenthood, 20 states now require private insurance coverage for contraception. Union Pacific, which is self-insured, is not bound by such laws.