TLPJ Achieves Landmark Settlement in Sex Discrimination Lawsuit Against National Civic Group

Fraternal Order of Eagles to Admit Massachusetts Women as Members

The Eagles lived up to their motto by admitting Massachusetts women as full-fledged members.

Trial Lawyers for Public Justice reached a settlement on January 6, 2005, in a sex discrimination lawsuit against the national headquarters of the Fraternal Order of Eagles. The lawsuit, filed on behalf of Boston residents Joan Moran and Mary Chichester, charged that the national civic organization’s policy excluding women as members violated Massachusetts’ anti-discrimination and equal rights laws. As a result of the settlement, the Eagles will no longer exclude women in Massachusetts from full and equal membership in the organization on the basis of their sex and will admit all qualified women who are accepted as members in any local chapter in the state.

Before TLPJ filed the lawsuit in Superior Court in Plymouth County on February 23, 2003, Massachusetts women could only join the Eagles’ "Ladies’ auxiliary" clubs, which excluded them from the rights and privileges of full membership. Women could not attend certain meetings, vote for leaders, participate in most athletic competitions, or vote on important club matters.

"We applaud the Eagles for deciding to treat Massachusetts women fairly," said TLPJ Staff Attorney Rebecca E. Epstein, co-counsel in the case. "The Eagles made the right decision to welcome women throughout the state as full-fledged members on an equal footing, which pays tribute to women’s valuable skills and contributions to the group."

The Eagles, which has traditionally excluded women from its ranks, briefly decided to admit women in 1995. The club reversed course and decided once again to exclude women from membership in 1998. In 2000, Plaintiffs Moran and Chichester were told that despite their significant roles in the local chapter’s activities, they could not be admitted as full members because of their sex. The Lakeville, Massachusetts chapter of the Eagles – which was forced to formally comply with this policy despite its disapproval of it – supported the lawsuit. This may have helped convince the Eagles to change its admissions policy statewide.

"Mary and I are proud to contribute to the fight for women’s equality by helping to open the doors of this respected and influential civic organization," said Moran. "And we’re grateful for the support of the Lakeville chapter, where I hope to be the first woman in line to become a full member."

"Women in Massachusetts will now reap the rewards of participating in the Eagles’ vital social, charitable, and economic activities," said lead counsel Ed Rapacki, of Ellis & Rapacki in Boston. "We are delighted that the Eagles has agreed to remove its barrier of discrimination by making its services, programs, and benefits fully available to women."

In addition to Epstein and Rapacki, the plaintiffs’ legal team includes TLPJ Staff Attorney Adele P. Kimmel.

The complaint and the settlement in the sex discrimination case, Moran v. Grand Aerie of the Fraternal Order of Eagles, are posted on TLPJ’s web site, www.tlpj.org.

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Trial Lawyers for Public Justice is the only national public interest law firm dedicated to using trial lawyers’ skills and resources to advance the public good. Founded in 1982, TLPJ utilizes a nationwide network of more than 3,000 outstanding trial lawyers to pursue precedent-setting and socially significant litigation. It has a wide-ranging litigation docket in the areas of civil rights and liberties, consumer rights, environmental protection, toxic torts, worker safety, and access to the courts. TLPJ is the principal project of The TLPJ Foundation, a not-for-profit membership organization. It has offices in Washington, DC, and Oakland, CA. TLPJ’s State Coordinators for Massachusetts are Robert Bonsignore, tel. 781-391-9400, and James Swartz, tel. 617-742-1900.