Janet Bonnema

In November 1970[7] Bonnema applied to the Colorado Department of Highways (CDOT) for a position as an engineering technician for the Eisenhower Tunnel project (then named the Straight Creek Tunnel project).[3] She met the qualification criteria, passed the tests, and her application was accepted as being filed by a "Mr. Jamet Bonnema", as the state employer misspelled the name and was under the impression they were hiring a man. When Bonnema called to accept the job but question the salary being offered, she was told that "no women are allowed in the tunnel".[8] Bonnema maintained that she could do the work, and two months later the department created a special engineering technician position for her that was office-based.[8] While Bonnema was tasked with "recording measurements, collecting rock samples, and producing technical drawings" based on data found within the tunnels, her supervisors barred her from entering the tunnel itself due to her gender.[3][9] A prevailing superstition, stemming from Welsh miners who came to work in Colorado in the mid-nineteenth century, held that women who descended underground into mines or tunnels would bring bad luck, putting the male workers in danger.[10] This superstition applied to female workers, journalists, and visitors alike.[7][8]

In July 1972, capping a year-long investigation, the United States Department of Transportation concluded that barring female workers from the tunnel amounted to sexual discrimination.[2] When Bonnema's supervisors still refused to allow her entry, Bonnema filed a $100,000 class action lawsuit against the CDOT, citing Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.[2][3] Before the case was heard, Colorado voters ratified the Equal Rights Amendment and the state opted to settle Bonnema's case out of court for $6,750.[8][11]

Bonnema was escorted into the tunnel for the first time on November 9, 1972.[8][11] Sixty-six workers temporarily walked off the job in protest, but only one quit permanently.[3][8] On her second visit to the tunnel on November 14, Bonnema donned coveralls and a hard hat to disguise her identity. This time she and other workers were asked to perform measurements at the top of the tunnel, where Bonnema worked inside a concrete pipe; no one walked out on this visit.[12] Bonnema continued to dress in coveralls during her subsequent work in the tunnel so as not to attract attention.[9]