Case: EEOC v. AT&T CORP. & COMMUNICATIONS, LOCAL UNION NO. 4998

1:99-cv-00689 | U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana

Filed Date: May 12, 1999

Closed Date: Aug. 23, 2005

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Case Summary

The Indianapolis district office of the EEOC brought this suit against AT&T Corporation, a major communications company, and Communications Workers of America, Local Union No. 4998, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana in May 1999. The complaint alleged that AT&T had fired an employee because it regarded her as disabled, in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act. The complainant intervened in July 1999. The case was settled by entry of a consent decree in Au…

According to an EEOC press release, the decree included non-discrimination and non-retaliation clauses and required AT&T to file annual reports to the EEOC on its compliance with the decree and to post a non-discrimination notice, for a period of five years. The decree also required personal relief to the complainant in the form of reinstating her to her position with AT&T with seniority and benefits restored as if she had never been fired. Additionally, AT&T agreed to pay the complainant $50,000 in damages.

Summary Authors

Kevin Wilemon (5/27/2008)

People

For PACER's information on parties and their attorneys, see: https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/11042577/parties/equal-employment-opportunity-com-v-att-corporation/

Judge(s)

Attorney for Plaintiff

FARNSWORTH, JO ANN (Indiana)

KELSO, ROBERT M (Indiana)

Attorney for Defendant

MACEY, NORA (Indiana)

MCLAUGHLIN, ROBERT (Indiana)

OMELVENY, MARY (Indiana)

Judge(s)

Young, Richard L. (Indiana)

Attorney for Plaintiff

FARNSWORTH, JO ANN (Indiana)

KELSO, ROBERT M (Indiana)

Attorney for Defendant

MACEY, NORA (Indiana)

MCLAUGHLIN, ROBERT (Indiana)

OMELVENY, MARY (Indiana)

Attorney Contact Information via CourtListener

Documents in the Clearinghouse

Documents in this case

1:99-cv-00689	Docket [District Court Website] EEOC v. AT&T Corp. & Communications, Local Union NO. 4998	Aug. 23, 2000	Aug. 23, 2000 Docket
1:99-cv-00689	EEOC Reaches Settlement with AT&T Corp. and Communications Workers of America, Local Union No. 4998 EEOC v. AT&T Corporation No Court	Aug. 28, 2000	Aug. 28, 2000 Press Release

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Resources

Resources related to this case
Title	Description		External URL Date / External URL
Under the Radar: Visibility and the Effects of Discrimination Lawsuits in Small and Large Firms Carly Knight, Frank Dobbin, Alexandra Kalev	Research on how discrimination lawsuits affect corporate diversity has yielded mixed results. Qualitative studies highlight the limited efficacy of lawsuits in the typical workplace, finding that lit…	March 2022	April 1, 2022 https://cris.tau.ac.il/...

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Docket

See docket on RECAP: https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/11042577/equal-employment-opportunity-com-v-att-corporation/

Last updated March 21, 2026, 4:42 a.m.

ECF Number	Date	Description	Link
1	May 12, 1999	DEMAND FOR JURY TRIAL eod 05/19/99 [MAC] (Entered: 05/19/1999)	RECAP
2	May 12, 1999	CIVIL COVER SHEET eod 05/19/99 [MAC] (Entered: 05/19/1999)	RECAP
3	May 12, 1999	SUMMONS issued eod 05/19/99 [MAC] (Entered: 05/19/1999)	RECAP
4	May 12, 1999	MAGISTRATE'S NOTICE eod 05/19/99 [MAC] (Entered: 05/19/1999)	RECAP
5	May 18, 1999	CONSENT TO MAGISTRATE by the pltf-EEOC eod 05/19/99 [CBU] (Entered: 05/19/1999)	RECAP
6	May 24, 1999	RETURN of service by CMRRR dated 5/19/99 for Jan Lynam Exec VP of CWA Local Union #4998 eod 05/25/99 [CBU] (Entered: 05/25/1999)	RECAP
7	May 24, 1999	RETURN of service by CMRRR dated 5/18/99 for AT&T Corp eod 05/25/99 [CBU] (Entered: 05/25/1999)	RECAP
8	June 2, 1999	APPEARANCE of Robert L. McLaughlin and Michael Rabinowitch of law firm Wooden & McLaughlin on behalf of deft AT&T Corp c/s - DEFT AT&T eod 06/02/99 [MAC] (Entered: 06/02/1999)	RECAP
9	June 2, 1999	NOTICE OF PARTIES' FIRST EXTENSION OF TIME to respond to Complaint to 6/10/99 and to discovery requests to 6/20/99 c/s - DEFT AT&T eod 06/02/99 [MAC] (Entered: 06/02/1999)	RECAP
10	June 9, 1999	MOTION to Intervene c/s Harriette J Caine eod 06/10/99 [CBU] (Entered: 06/10/1999)	RECAP
11	June 11, 1999	ORDER expediting trial c/m crd JPG eod 06/11/99 [SWM] (Entered: 06/11/1999)	RECAP
13	July 7, 1999	ORDER GRANTS Caine's Motion to Intervene. c/m RLY eod 07/12/99 [TMA] (Entered: 07/12/1999)	RECAP
14	July 7, 1999	DEMAND FOR JURY TRIAL . c/s INTERVENING PLTF eod 07/12/99 [TMA] (Entered: 07/12/1999)	RECAP
12	July 12, 1999	ANSWER to complaint . c/s DEFT (AT&T) eod 07/12/99 [TMA] (Entered: 07/12/1999)	RECAP
15	July 16, 1999	ANSWER to complaint of Hariette J Caine cs DEFT eod 07/16/99 [LMW] (Entered: 07/16/1999)	RECAP
16	July 19, 1999	MOTION FOR TIME TO respond to pltf's first set of interrogatories and pltf's first request for production of documents. c/s DEFT eod 07/20/99 [TMA] (Entered: 07/20/1999)	RECAP
17	July 23, 1999	ORDER GRANTS deft's motion for time to respond to pltf's first set of interrogatories and pltf's first request for production of documents - ext to and including 8/19/99 c/m sdw VSS eod 07/23/99 [SWM] (Entered: 07/23/1999)	RECAP
18	Aug. 26, 1999	APPEARANCE of Jamie D. Prenkert, trial attorney for the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission on behalf of pltf, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. c/s PLTF eod 08/27/99 [TMA] (Entered: 08/27/1999)	RECAP
19	Sept. 10, 1999	NOTICE OF PARTIES' FIRST EXTENSION OF TIME (letter from Jamie Darin Prenkert to Robert L. Mclaughlin dated 9/9/99 re: confirming extension of time to respond to discovery thru 10/17/99.) eod 09/13/99 [TMA] (Entered: 09/13/1999)	RECAP
20	Sept. 10, 1999	CASE MANAGEMENT PLAN TENDERED BY PLTF, PLTF-INTERVENOR, AND DEFT AT&T CORP (proposed) eod 09/13/99 [TMA] (Entered: 09/13/1999)	RECAP
21	Oct. 4, 1999	PTC held (no minutes) JPG eod 10/14/99 [SWM] (Entered: 10/14/1999)	RECAP
22	Oct. 10, 1999	CASE MANAGEMENT ORDER APPROVED c/m crd JPG eod 10/14/99 [SWM] (Entered: 10/14/1999)	RECAP
23	Oct. 13, 1999	ENTRY ASSIGNS P/T to 05/10/00 at 10:15AM Room 234 (JPG) c/m crd (interim) eod 10/14/99 [SWM] (Entered: 10/14/1999)	RECAP
24	Oct. 20, 1999	ENTRY ASSIGNS P/T to 12/07/00 at 09:15AM Room 353 (RLY) c/m (final) eod 10/21/99 [TMA] (Entered: 10/21/1999)	RECAP
25	Nov. 29, 1999	EXHIBIT LIST (prelim). c/s PLTF EEOC eod 11/29/99 [TMA] (Entered: 11/29/1999)	RECAP
26	Nov. 29, 1999	WITNESS LIST (prelim). c/s PLTF EEOC eod 11/29/99 [TMA] (Entered: 11/29/1999)	RECAP
27	Nov. 29, 1999	CONTENTIONS (prelim). c/s PLTF EEOC eod 11/29/99 [TMA] (Entered: 11/29/1999)	RECAP
28	Nov. 29, 1999	WITNESS LIST (prelim). c/s PLTF-INTERVENOR Harriette Caine eod 11/30/99 [TMA] (Entered: 11/30/1999)	RECAP
29	Nov. 29, 1999	EXHIBIT LIST (prelim). c/s PLTF-INTERVENOR Harriette Caine eod 11/30/99 [TMA] (Entered: 11/30/1999)	RECAP
30	Nov. 29, 1999	SPECIAL DAMAGES (statement of)(prelim). c/s PLTF-INTERVENOR Harriette Caine eod 11/30/99 [TMA] (Entered: 11/30/1999)	RECAP
31	Dec. 6, 1999	WITNESS LIST (prelim). c/s DEFT AT&T Corp. eod 12/06/99 [TMA] (Entered: 12/06/1999)	RECAP
32	Dec. 6, 1999	CONTENTIONS (prelim). c/s DEFT AT&T Corp. eod 12/06/99 [TMA] (Entered: 12/06/1999)	RECAP
33	Dec. 21, 1999	ANSWER to complaint of Harriette Caine. c/s DEFT CWA Local 4998 eod 12/21/99 [TMA] (Entered: 12/21/1999)	RECAP
34	Dec. 21, 1999	ANSWER to complaint . c/s DEFT, CWA Local 4998 eod 12/21/99 [TMA] (Entered: 12/21/1999)	RECAP
35	Dec. 21, 1999	APPEARANCE of Nora L. Macey of MACEY MACEY AND SWANSON on behalf of deft, Communications Workers of America, Local 4998. c/s DEFT eod 12/21/99 [TMA] (Entered: 12/21/1999)	RECAP
36	Dec. 21, 1999	MOTION PRO HAC VICE to admit Mary K. O'Melveny of Communications Workers of America on behalf of DEFT, CWA Local 4998. c/s DEFT eod 12/21/99 [TMA] (Entered: 12/21/1999)	RECAP
37	Dec. 27, 1999	RECEIPT #38251 for $30.00 PHV fee eod 12/27/99 [TMA] (Entered: 12/27/1999)	RECAP
38	Dec. 30, 1999	ORDER GRANTS motion pro hac vice - atty Mary K O'Melveny on behalf of DEFT Communications Workers of America, Local Union No 4998 c/m crd JPG eod 01/03/00 [SWM] (Entered: 01/03/2000)	RECAP
39	March 10, 2000	NOTICE OF PARTIES' FIRST EXTENSION OF TIME for the Union defts to and including 4/10/00 to respond to discovery requests c/s eod 03/13/00 [CBU] (Entered: 03/13/2000)	RECAP
40	April 4, 2000	MOTION FOR TIME TO file expert reports. c/s PLTF eod 04/04/00 [PLM] (Entered: 04/04/2000)	RECAP
41	April 12, 2000	ORDER GRANTS Pltf's Motion for time to file expert reports on or before 04/13/00. VSS c/m mri eod 04/13/00 [MRI] (Entered: 04/13/2000)	RECAP
42	April 13, 2000	ENTRY ASSIGNS CONF to 06/26/00 at 02:30PM Room 234 (JPG) c/m (settlement). Parties shall appear by counsel and in person and submit (NOT FILE) a confidential statement to the magistrate judge setting forth their respective settlement positions on or before 06/22/00. eod 04/13/00 [MRI] (Entered: 04/13/2000)	RECAP
43	May 10, 2000	MOTION FOR TIME TO designate expert witnesses and to provide expert witness reports. c/s DEFT AT&T eod 05/11/00 [TMA] (Entered: 05/11/2000)	RECAP
44	May 11, 2000	ORDER GRANTS motion for time to designate expert witnesses and to provide expert witness reports - ext to and including 6/12/00 DEFT AT&T c/m crd JPG eod 05/15/00 [SWM] (Entered: 05/15/2000)	RECAP
45	May 19, 2000	EXHIBIT LIST (final). c/s PLTF Caine eod 05/22/00 [TMA] (Entered: 05/22/2000)	RECAP
46	May 22, 2000	EXHIBIT LIST (final). c/s PLTF eod 05/23/00 [TMA] (Entered: 05/23/2000)	RECAP
47	May 22, 2000	WITNESS LIST (final). c/s PLTF eod 05/23/00 [TMA] (Entered: 05/23/2000)	RECAP
48	May 22, 2000	CONTENTIONS (final). c/s PLTF eod 05/23/00 [TMA] (Entered: 05/23/2000)	RECAP
49	May 22, 2000	WITNESS LIST (final). c/s DEFT AT&T eod 05/23/00 [TMA] (Entered: 05/23/2000)	RECAP
50	May 22, 2000	CONTENTIONS (final). c/s DEFT AT&T eod 05/23/00 [TMA] (Entered: 05/23/2000)	RECAP
51	June 26, 2000	PTC -Settlement conference held (no minutes) JPG eod 07/03/00 [SWM] (Entered: 07/03/2000)	RECAP
52	Aug. 9, 2000	MOTION (joint) for entry of a consent decree. PARTIES eod 08/10/00 [TMA] (Entered: 08/10/2000)	RECAP
53	Aug. 23, 2000	CLOSED Judgment Consent - Order approves joint motion for entry of consent decree. Court will retain jurisdiction of this cause throughout the duration of this Decree for purposes of monitoring compliance. Cause is administratively closed on this Court's docket. (See Consent Decree) c/m RLY OBV 46 PG 746 eod 08/23/00 [TMA] (Entered: 08/23/2000)	RECAP

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Case Details

State / Territory:

Indiana

Case Type(s):

Equal Employment

Disability Rights

Special Collection(s):

EEOC Study — in sample

Key Dates

Filing Date: May 12, 1999

Closing Date: Aug. 23, 2005

Case Ongoing: No

Plaintiffs

Plaintiff Description:

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, on behalf of one or more workers.

Plaintiff Type(s):

EEOC Plaintiff

Private Plaintiff

Attorney Organizations:

EEOC

Public Interest Lawyer: Yes

Filed Pro Se: No

Class Action Sought: No

Class Action Outcome: Not sought

Defendants

Private Entity/Person

AT&T Corporation

Communications Workers of America, Local Union No. 4998

Case Details

Causes of Action:

Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), 42 U.S.C. §§ 12111 et seq.

Other Dockets:

Southern District of Indiana 1:99-cv-00689

Available Documents:

Trial Court Docket

Outcome

Prevailing Party: Plaintiff OR Mixed

Relief Granted:

Damages

Injunction / Injunctive-like Settlement

Source of Relief:

Settlement

Form of Settlement:

Court Approved Settlement or Consent Decree

Content of Injunction:

Discrimination Prohibition

Post/Distribute Notice of Rights / EE Law

Reinstatement (job, contract, grant, etc.)

Reporting

Retaliation Prohibition

Retroactive Seniority

Amount Defendant Pays: 50000

Order Duration: 2000 - 2005

Issues

Discrimination Area:

Discharge / Constructive Discharge / Layoff

Disparate Treatment

Discrimination Basis:

Disability (inc. reasonable accommodations)

EEOC-centric:

Direct Suit on Merits

Private Party intervened in EEOC suit

Recommended Citation

Case Summary of EEOC v. AT&T CORP. & COMMUNICATIONS, LOCAL UNION NO. 4998, Civil Rights Litig. Clearinghouse, http://www.dev.clearinghouse.net/case/5581/ (last updated 5/27/2008).