Two AT&T employees on Friday filed a class-action lawsuit on behalf of the company's female employees alleging that the failure of its health insurance plan to cover prescription contraceptives violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as well as the Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1978, the Kansas City Star reports. Title VII prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex, while the Pregnancy Discrimination Act prohibits discrimination on the basis of pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions. Although the company's health insurance plan began covering oral contraceptives ordered by mail in July, the lawsuit contests the plan's failure to provide other forms of birth control, including Depo-Provera, intrauterine devices and diaphragms, because it covers other sex-related prescription drugs for men, such as Viagra. "This willingness to cover Viagra but not birth control captures the double standard in our society. Apparently AT&T doesn't look at pregnancy on the same level as they view potency," Sly James, a lawyer representing the plaintiffs, said. The AT&T case follows several recent debates in state legislatures and courts resulting in the enactment of legislation in 20 states requiring health insurance policies that cover prescription drugs to cover prescription contraceptives as well. A federal contraceptive coverage measure, the Equity in Prescription Insurance and Contraceptive Coverage Act, stalled in Congress in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, according to the Star. An AT&T spokesperson declined to comment on the lawsuit, saying that the company had not yet seen the complaint (Margolies, Kansas City Star, 1/21).