Dolores DONINGER Et Al., Appellants, v. PACIFIC NORTHWEST BELL, INC., Appellee

These consolidated appeals are from Orders of the District Court, denying appellants’ motions for class certification under Fed.R.Civ.P. 23. The complaint was brought under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e et seq., and the Equal Pay Act, 29 U.S.C. § 206 (d). It alleged that the appellee, Pacific Northwest Bell (PNB), had engaged in illegal sex discrimination practices. The appellants, plaintiffs below, are 31 female employees of PNB. They seek, according to the complaint, to represent the class of “female persons who are now employed or were employed, or who might have become employed by the corporation at its plants or offices, and who have been, continue to be; or might be adversely affected by the practices complained of herein.” The complaint thereafter alleges violations of Title VII and the Equal Pay Act by PNB in “job assignments in facilities assigning, frame assembly, and test desk. . . The appellants sought broad injunctive relief and backpay awards as remedies to compensate for, and to halt, the alleged discriminatory practices.

PNB answered the complaint by denying the allegations of sex discrimination and by asserting that a consent decree…