
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, March 27, 1990                   TAG: 9003272120
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A2   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: The Baltimore Sun
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

`FETAL PROTECTION' ON DOCKET

The Supreme Court agreed Monday to rule on the legality of job rules that bar fertile women from exposure to poisons in the work place.

A battery manufacturer's "fetal protection policy," excluding women capable of becoming pregnant from jobs that would expose them to lead, was upheld by a federal appeals court in September. It is challenged by a labor union and eight workers.

The case involves Johnson Controls Inc., a Milwaukee-headquartered company that makes batteries at 14 factories around the country.

The appeals court said a company that works with hazardous substances is entitled to conclude that protecting the health of future fetuses is a "business necessity" justifying special controls on fertile female workers.

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, which polices job-bias claims, has declared it disagrees with the lower court ruling.

Women's rights attorneys contend that federal regulations on exposure to lead are sufficient to protect men and women and that it should be up to workers, not employers, to decide what to do about potential risks to fetuses that the women might someday carry.

by CNB