Opinion ID: 196971
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Applicable Preliminary Injunction Standard.

Text: 9 In the typical case, a party seeking preliminary injunctive relief must prove: (1) a substantial likelihood of success on the merits; (2) a significant risk of irreparable harm if the injunction is withheld; (3) a favorable balance of hardships; and (4) a fit (or, at least, a lack of friction) between the injunction and the public interest. See Narragansett Indian Tribe v. Guilbert, 934 F.2d 4, 5 (1st Cir.1991). Here, however, the EEOC asserts that Congress, by enacting section 706(f)(2) of Title VII, specifically authorized the agency to seek injunctive relief in the public interest. 3 Based on this circumstance, the EEOC argues that it need not satisfy the traditional test for preliminary injunctive relief but, instead, must only meet the built-in criterion that section 706(f)(2) itself establishes. On this approach an injunction is appropriate as long as the Commission, after conducting a preliminary investigation of a pending charge of discrimination, (1) determines that prompt judicial intervention is essential to carry out the purposes of Title VII, and (2) makes out a prima facie case that the defendant has committed (or is likely to commit) serious violations of Title VII which, if not enjoined, will frustrate the Act's purposes. In practice, the difference between the two approaches may be more apparent than real. The EEOC, however, sees two key distinctions: under its approach the public interest prong becomes a foregone conclusion (for the Commission is itself the standard-bearer for the public interest), and, in addition, a somewhat lessened showing of irreparable harm may be adequate to justify preliminary injunctive relief. 10 The circuits are in some disarray regarding whether the EEOC must meet the traditional four-part test for injunctive relief. See, e.g., Baker v. Buckeye Cellulose Corp., 856 F.2d 167, 169 (11th Cir.1988) (holding that an allegation of a Title VII violation establishes a rebuttable presumption of irreparable injury); EEOC v. Pacific Press Pub. Ass'n, 535 F.2d 1182, 1187 (9th Cir.1976) (suggesting that the usual requirement of irreparable injury is relaxed when the EEOC seeks injunctive relief pendente lite ); cf. EEOC v. Cosmair, Inc., 821 F.2d 1085, 1090 (5th Cir.1987) (holding, in an ADEA case, that [w]hen an injunction is expressly authorized by statute and the statutory conditions are satisfied, the movant need not establish specific irreparable injury to obtain a preliminary injunction). 11 Amidst these subtly shaded solutions, the Sixth Circuit struck a blow for clarity and flatly rejected the EEOC's interpretation of section 706(f)(2). See EEOC v. Anchor Hocking Corp., 666 F.2d 1037, 1040-41 (6th Cir.1981). We think that this is the right result. There is nothing in the language of section 706(f)(2) that can fairly be read to limit a district court's discretion in issuing preliminary injunctions. In authorizing the EEOC to bring an action for appropriate temporary or preliminary relief, the statute does not purport to wrest the final decision on whether relief is warranted from the courts. See id. at 1041 & n. 4 (comparing § 706(f)(2) with other federal statutes which by their language restrict the district courts' discretion in issuing injunctions). Moreover, this court has consistently emphasized the importance of a showing of irreparable harm in the calculus of injunctive relief. See, e.g., Gately v. Commonwealth of Mass., 2 F.3d 1221, 1232 (1st Cir.1993) (stating that a federal court cannot dispense with the irreparable harm requirement in affording injunctive relief), cert. denied, 511 U.S. 1082, 114 S.Ct. 1832, 128 L.Ed.2d 461 (1994). In our view this principle, which is predicated on the teaching that [t]he basis of injunctive relief in the federal courts has always been irreparable harm and inadequacy of legal remedies, Beacon Theatres, Inc. v. Westover, 359 U.S. 500, 506-07, 79 S.Ct. 948, 954, 3 L.Ed.2d 988 (1959), is of paramount importance and should not lightly be set aside. Because we see no evidence in this instance that Congress, in drafting section 706(f)(2), intended the courts to depart from this rule, we hold that the EEOC--like any other suitor--must meet the familiar four-part test for preliminary injunctive relief. 12 We review the district court's grant of a preliminary injunction for mistake of law or abuse of discretion. See Narragansett Indian Tribe, 934 F.2d at 5; Independent Oil & Chem. Workers of Quincy, Inc. v. Procter & Gamble Mfg. Co., 864 F.2d 927, 929 (1st Cir.1988). A party appealing from either the grant or the denial of a preliminary injunction bears the considerable burden of demonstrating that the district court flouted this standard. See Gately, 2 F.3d at 1225. 13