Opinion ID: 3036946
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: unequal burdens

Text: [1] In order to assert a valid Title VII claim for sex discrimination, a plaintiff must make out a prima facie case establishing that the challenged employment action was either intentionally discriminatory or that it had a discriminatory effect on the basis of gender. McDonnell Douglas Corp. v. Green, 411 U.S. 792, 802 (1973); Harriss v. Pan Am. World Airways, Inc., 649 F.2d 670, 673 (9th Cir. 1980). Once a plaintiff establishes such a prima facie case, “[t]he burden then must shift to the employer to articulate some legitimate, nondiscriminatory reason for the employee’s rejection.” McDonnell, 411 U.S. at 802. [2] In this case, Jespersen argues that the makeup requirement itself establishes a prima facie case of discriminatory intent and must be justified by Harrah’s as a bona fide occupational qualification. See 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-2(e)(1).1 Our 1 “[I]t shall not be an unlawful employment practice for an employer to hire and employ employees . . . on the basis of his religion, sex, or national 4126 JESPERSEN v. HARRAH’S OPERATING CO. settled law in this circuit, however, does not support Jespersen’s position that a sex-based difference in appearance standards alone, without any further showing of disparate effects, creates a prima facie case. In Gerdom v. Cont’l Airlines, Inc., 692 F.2d 602 (9th Cir. 1982), we considered the Continental Airlines policy that imposed strict weight restrictions on female flight attendants, and held it constituted a violation of Title VII. We did so because the airline imposed no weight restriction whatsoever on a class of male employees who performed the same or similar functions as the flight attendants. Id. at 610. Indeed, the policy was touted by the airline as intended to “create the public image of an airline which offered passengers service by thin, attractive women, whom executives referred to as Continental’s ‘girls.’ ” Id. at 604. In fact, Continental specifically argued that its policy was justified by its “desire to compete [with other airlines] by featuring attractive female cabin attendants[,]” a justification which this court recognized as “discriminatory on its face.” Id. at 609. The weight restriction was part of an overall program to create a sexual image for the airline. Id. at 604. [3] In contrast, this case involves an appearance policy that applied to both male and female bartenders, and was aimed at creating a professional and very similar look for all of them. All bartenders wore the same uniform. The policy only differentiated as to grooming standards. In Frank v. United Airlines, Inc., 216 F.3d 845 (9th Cir. 2000), we dealt with a weight policy that applied different standards to men and women in a facially unequal way. The women were forced to meet the requirements of a medium origin in those certain instances where religion, sex, or national origin is a bona fide occupational qualification reasonably necessary to the normal operation of that particular business or enterprise[.]” JESPERSEN v. HARRAH’S OPERATING CO. 4127 body frame standard while men were required to meet only the more generous requirements of a large body frame standard. Id. at 854. In that case, we recognized that “[a]n appearance standard that imposes different but essentially equal burdens on men and women is not disparate treatment.” Id. The United weight policy, however, did not impose equal burdens. On its face, the policy embodied a requirement that categorically “ ‘applie[d] less favorably to one gender[,]’ ” and the burdens imposed upon that gender were obvious from the policy itself. Id. (quoting Gerdom, 692 F.2d at 608 (alteration omitted)). [4] This case stands in marked contrast, for here we deal with requirements that, on their face, are not more onerous for one gender than the other. Rather, Harrah’s “Personal Best” policy contains sex-differentiated requirements regarding each employee’s hair, hands, and face. While those individual requirements differ according to gender, none on its face places a greater burden on one gender than the other. Grooming standards that appropriately differentiate between the genders are not facially discriminatory. [5] We have long recognized that companies may differentiate between men and women in appearance and grooming policies, and so have other circuits. See, e.g., Fountain v. Safeway Stores, Inc., 555 F.2d 753, 755 (9th Cir. 1977); Barker v. Taft Broad. Co., 549 F.2d 400, 401 (6th Cir. 1977); Earwood v. Cont’l Southeastern Lines, Inc., 539 F.2d 1349, 1350 (4th Cir. 1976); Longo v. Carlisle DeCoppet & Co., 537 F.2d 685, 685 (2d Cir. 1976) (per curiam); Knott v. Mo. Pac. R.R. Co., 527 F.2d 1249, 1252 (8th Cir. 1975); Willingham v. Macon Tel. Publ’g Co., 507 F.2d 1084, 1092 (5th Cir. 1975) (en banc); Baker v. Cal. Land Title Co., 507 F.2d 895, 896 (9th Cir. 1974); Dodge v. Giant Food, Inc., 488 F.2d 1333, 1337 (D.C. Cir. 1973). The material issue under our settled law is not whether the policies are different, but whether the policy imposed on the plaintiff creates an “unequal burden” for the plaintiff’s gender. See Frank, 216 F.3d at 854-55; Ger4128 JESPERSEN v. HARRAH’S OPERATING CO. dom, 692 F.2d at 605-06; see also Fountain, 555 F.2d at 75556. [6] Not every differentiation between the sexes in a grooming and appearance policy creates a “significantly greater burden of compliance[.]” Gerdom, 692 F.2d at 606. For example, in Fountain, this court upheld Safeway’s enforcement of its sex-differentiated appearance standard, including its requirement that male employees wear ties, because the company’s actions in enforcing the regulations were not “overly burdensome to its employees[.]” 555 F.2d at 756; see also Baker, 507 F.2d at 898. Similarly, as the Eighth Circuit has recognized, “[w]here, as here, such [grooming and appearance] policies are reasonable and are imposed in an evenhanded manner on all employees, slight differences in the appearance requirements for males and females have only a negligible effect on employment opportunities.” Knott, 527 F.2d at 1252. Under established equal burdens analysis, when an employer’s grooming and appearance policy does not unreasonably burden one gender more than the other, that policy will not violate Title VII. Jespersen asks us to take judicial notice of the fact that it costs more money and takes more time for a woman to comply with the makeup requirement than it takes for a man to comply with the requirement that he keep his hair short, but these are not matters appropriate for judicial notice. Judicial notice is reserved for matters “generally known within the territorial jurisdiction of the trial court” or “capable of accurate and ready determination by resort to sources whose accuracy cannot reasonably be questioned.” Fed. R. Evid. 201. The time and cost of makeup and haircuts is in neither category. The facts that Jespersen would have this court judicially notice are not subject to the requisite “high degree of indisputability” generally required for such judicial notice. Fed. R. Evid. 201 advisory committee’s note. Our rules thus provide that a plaintiff may not cure her failure to present the trial court with facts sufficient to establish JESPERSEN v. HARRAH’S OPERATING CO. 4129 the validity of her claim by requesting that this court take judicial notice of such facts. See id.; see also Fed. R. Civ. Proc. 56(e). Those rules apply here. Jespersen did not submit any documentation or any evidence of the relative cost and time required to comply with the grooming requirements by men and women. As a result, we would have to speculate about those issues in order to then guess whether the policy creates unequal burdens for women. This would not be appropriate. See, e.g., Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 249 (1986) (“[T]here is no issue for trial unless there is sufficient evidence favoring the nonmoving party for a jury to return a verdict for that party.”); Steckl v. Motorola, Inc., 703 F.2d 392, 393 (9th Cir. 1983) (“A party opposing a summary judgment motion must produce specific facts showing that there remains a genuine factual issue for trial and evidence significantly probative as to any material fact claimed to be disputed.”) (internal quotation marks and alteration omitted); cf. Lindahl v. Air France, 930 F.2d 1434, 1437 (9th Cir. 1991) (In a Title VII case, “a plaintiff cannot defeat summary judgment simply by making out a prima facie case.”). [7] Having failed to create a record establishing that the “Personal Best” policies are more burdensome for women than for men, Jespersen did not present any triable issue of fact. The district court correctly granted summary judgment on the record before it with respect to Jespersen’s claim that the makeup policy created an unequal burden for women.