‘Thank God. It’s Taken So Long,’ Teller Says of Victory

Lillian Garland said she was “covered with soap” early this morning when she received word from the East Coast that she had won a U.S. Supreme Court case upholding a state law that working women be granted pregnancy leave.

“Thank God. It’s taken so long. . . . I’m ecstatic,” she said, adding that she had prayed about it every day. Garland, who is now part-owner of a Los Angeles real estate company, went to court five years ago when her employer, California Federal Savings & Loan, challenged the law.

“It was almost like an insult--either be home and barefoot and pregnant in the kitchen or put on a business suit and be out here . . . you can’t do both. That’s ridiculous,” the ex-bank teller said.

During the litigation, Garland said, she was divorced. She lost custody of her daughter because the institution refused to reinstate her after the baby was born, and she was unable to support her, she said. She has since remarried.