NOW ‘s Legal Committee, chaired by Marguerite Rawalt and including Carruthers Berger, Mary Eastwood and Phineas Indritz, has been authorized to take action on behalf of the airline stewardesses in the case of Velma Menglekoch v. the California Industrial Welfare Commission in which Menglekoch charged loss of wages and promotional opportunity because she was denied the right to work overtime under California protective legislation applicable only to women.
(This had been one of the first complaints received by the EEOC and had been referred to NOW’s founder and former EEOC chair, Aileen Hernandez, to decide; she found “reasonable cause” to believe Menglekoch was discriminated against by her employer’s adherence to state law. The Hernandez decision on the case had been held up pending discussion by the full Commission, which determined, on a split vote, not to decide the case.)