on the basis of pregnancy and allows those on maternity leave the same coverage as other medical leave. Lawyers for the women argued that each reduced retirement check that they receive is "a fresh act of discrimination" a reference to the first bill signed into law by President Barack Obama the Lilly Ledbetter law. AT&T's argument was that the 1978 law cannot be applied retroactively because congress did not make the law retroactive and that they were basing the pension calculations on conditions at the time of employment. The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in hearing the case ruled in favor of Hulteen. This decision directly conflicted with previous decisions of the Sixth and Seventh Circuits, helping to lead to the Supreme Courts decision to review the case. Oral arguments were heard on December 10, 2008. Judgment The Supreme Court ruled in a 7–2 decision on May 18, 2009, that maternity leave taken before the passage of the 1978 Pregnancy Discrimination Act could be excluded in calculating employee pension benefits, even though leave taken for non-pregnancy related medical disabilities was not excluded. As a result of the Court's opinion AT&T was not required to amend its discriminatory pension policy retroactive to the effective date of the Pregnancy Discrimination Act. Justice Souter, in the majority opinion, wrote the following. Justice Ginsburg dissented and said the following. Significance Critics of the decision like Christine L. Owens of the National Employment Law Project stated that "The court's decision could affect thousands of women who took pregnancy leaves decades ago and now are headed toward retirement; the only way women who took pregnancy leave before 1979 can make their leave time count is through the good graces of their company or through legislation by Congress." Proponents of the decision like Rae T. Vann of Equal Employment Advisory Council stated that the decision was a "sensible and straightforward ruling" and "Congress intended the Pregnancy Discrimination Act to be applied prospectively, not retroactively." See also US labor law Pregnancy discrimination Notes External links United States Supreme Court cases United States Supreme Court cases of the Roberts Court United States family case law United States labor case law 2009 in United States case law Communications Workers of America AT&T litigation Parental leave in the United States