Opinion ID: 562709
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Title VII Action

Text: 9 The district court's sole stated basis for granting summary judgment for the Union and Safeway on Perugini's Title VII action was that the action had become the subject of a grievance and arbitration in another forum. The prior submission of the claim to arbitration is not an appropriate ground for dismissal. The Supreme Court has held that an employee's statutory right to trial de novo under Title VII is not foreclosed by prior submission of her claim to final arbitration under a collective-bargaining agreement. See Alexander v. Gardner-Denver Co., 415 U.S. 36, 94 S.Ct. 1011, 39 L.Ed.2d 147 (1974). The district court erred in granting summary judgment on this basis. 10 The defendants argue, however, that there are other proper grounds for affirming the dismissal. They contend, for instance, that Perugini's pleadings fail to state a Title VII claim because they do not allege that she was treated differently from others similarly situated. See Roller v. City of San Mateo, 572 F.2d 1311, 1313 (9th Cir.1977). We recognize that we may sustain the dismissal for reasons not addressed by the court below. See Marino v. Vasquez, 812 F.2d 499, 508 (9th Cir.1987). Thus, if the result below is correct, we may affirm even if the district court relied on an erroneous ground. See Lowe v. City of Monrovia, 775 F.2d 998, 1007 (9th Cir.1985), amended on other grounds by 784 F.2d 1407 (1986). However, we ascertain no basis for affirming the dismissal. 11 There are two reasons why we cannot accept the contention that the summary judgment on the Title VII claim should be affirmed on the ground that Perugini failed properly to allege differential treatment. The first is that the complaint does allege that Perugini was the object of discrimination solely because she is a female. That allegation may be liberally construed as an assertion that Perugini was treated differently from others similarly situated. The second reason is that the defendants' argument amounts to one that Perugini failed to state a Title VII claim. If the defendants had brought a motion to dismiss on that ground, and had won a dismissal by establishing that the complaint could not be so liberally construed, Perugini could have requested leave to amend her complaint. Fed.R.Civ.P. 15(a). We will not deprive her of that opportunity simply because the deficiency in the complaint is first asserted on appeal in support of a summary judgment granted on another ground. 12 Consequently, we reverse the district court's summary judgment in favor of all defendants on Perugini's Title VII claim.