Illinois Bell Telephone Co. v. Fair Employment Practices Commission

Plaintiff, Illinois Bell Telephone Company (hereinafter “Bell”), provides for its employees a “Wage Continuation Plan” as a fringe benefit for periods of nonoccupational, temporary, medically approved sickness or off-the-job injuries, paying said disabled employees a percentage of their regular wages for a limited number of weeks commencing with the second week of disability. The sole exceptions from this plan are employees temporarily disabled because of normal pregnancies, who are placed on uncompensated maternity leaves of absence and sustain a reduction in fringe benefits as well as a…