67 Women Win Back Wages in Navy Bias Case

Sixty-seven female Navy employees were awarded back pay Wednesday in an 18-year-old sex discrimination lawsuit, and the judge said he would consider sanctions against the government for harassing and delaying tactics.

“The government has sought to prolong this litigation by every means possible, both fair and foul,” U.S. District Judge Harold H. Greene said. “In these days of an enormous budget deficit, it would seem to be an extravagant waste of taxpayer funds.”

Greene awarded $670,402 in back pay to 67 female civilian employees of the Navy’s computer operations center. He noted that the government spent more than $2 million on expert witness fees alone in the most recent round of the case.

The women filed a class-action suit in 1973, contending that they suffered discrimination in hiring and promotions.

A Navy spokesman said he could not immediately comment on the ruling. Mark Liedl, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office, said an appeal would be considered and that “the government’s position throughout this litigation has been based on the merits of the case.”

The government blamed the reversal on poorly drafted court documents, but the judge said there was substantial evidence that the purpose was “harassing the plaintiffs, delaying this litigation and increasing the costs that plaintiffs must bear.”

The judge gave Navy Secretary H. Lawrence Garrett III and Assistant U.S. Atty. Thomas S. Rees 25 days to show why sanctions should not be imposed against them under federal rules of civil procedure. Such sanctions could include fines or award of attorneys’ fees and costs to the plaintiffs.

The case involved women who worked for the Navy Regional Data Automation Center between 1972 and 1979. Statistics compiled in the case showed that the women received fewer promotions and earned an average of $1,960 a year less than men.