ALTA: Ms. Chrapliwy and “Battle Uniroyal,” 1969-1982

by Gene Stowe

Alta Hochstetler Chrapliwy (1924-2015) was a divorced mother raising two children when she was laid off from the Footwear Division of Uniroyal Inc. in Mishawaka, Ind., in 1969, after 10 years. She challenged this blatant sex discrimination, first in a complaint to the EEOC and then in a class-action lawsuit that the company stonewalled for nearly a decade. Chrapliwy and her lawyers, who took the case on speculation against the well-financed Uniroyal legal team, persevered until their threat to the company’s federal contracts forced one of the largest settlements per class member in the history of such lawsuits.

177 pages, Paperback

Published December 27, 2019