AFA Chicago/Rosemont: McDonald v. UAL Case Records

Accession Number: 
LR002386
Use restriction: 
Restricted Use Form on Boxes 4, 6-55
Extent: 
55 linear feet (55 SB)

McDonald v. UAL was part of a series of legal cases involving United Air Lines (UAL), their former flight attendants, and the Association of Flight Attendants (AFA). The cases centered around flight attendants who lost their job due to UAL’s no-marriage policy of the 1950s and 1960s in which the company insisted that their female flight attendants remain unmarried. If a stewardess married she had to transfer to a ground job, was forced to resign, or was fired. Previous cases against UAL included Mary Sprogis and Carole Romasanta, but these only involved flight attendants who had been fired or had filed a grievance. In 1977, Liane Buix McDonald filed another class action, this one to include all stewardesses who were fired, resigned, or transferred from the flight attendant position due to the no-marriage ruling. The collection includes court documents, UAL marriage grievances from the mid-1960s, lawyer’s correspondence, class membership lists, and research. It also includes individual cases to determine class membership. These cases include attorney notes, statements of claimants, questionnaires and answers, AFA and UAL responses, and documents provided by the claimant.

Date: 
1959-1992, bulk 1965-1984
Attachment(click to download)
LR002386.pdfLR002386_guide.pdf105.16 KB