Flawed Remedies: EEOC, AT&T, and Sears Outcomes Reconsidered

This article revisits two landmark EEOC cases, EEOC vs. AT&T and EEOC vs. Sears, Roebuck and Company (Sears). The EEOC vs. AT&T case, viewed as an enormous victory for women, had far-reaching implications not only for women who worked in the old Bell System but for women in other industries as well. On the other hand, the EEOC's legal failure in the Sears, Roebuck and Company case was devastating to the women who worked for Sears and a source of division and strife among women historians. This paper examines the actual complaints filed with the EEOC to uncover and analyze the dynamic between women's pursuit of justice from the state and the effects of public policies initiated in response to that pursuit. By comparing the redress sought by the EEOC with that sought by the complainants, this paper evaluates the extent to which the state actually addressed the issues presented by the women themselves. Simultaneously, it analyzes the "gender first" strategies and policy solutions offered by the National Organization of Women that erased blackness. The author concludes that, given the failure of the state to recognize the "intersectionality" of African American women's oppressions, even in the context of the opening of new opportunities, the remedies sought in these cases were flawed from their inception and, therefore, could not fully redress black women's grievances.