The Nation : Bias Suit Nets $10 Million

Libbey-Owens-Ford Co. will pay up to $10 million for lost wages and make 342 jobs available to women to settle a sex discrimination suit, attorneys said. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission sued in 1978 after a woman complained that she was denied a job at the glass manufacturer’s Ottawa, Ill., plant because of height and weight requirements. About 1,700 women denied jobs, and women who did not apply because they knew the policy, would be eligible to benefit under the settlement, which a federal judge must approve. The company said the jobs required “a certain level of reach, strength and stamina in order to be safely performed.” It denied any liability but agreed to the settlement to avoid further litigation.