Opinion ID: 737024
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Effect of Gutowsky's Failure to Apply for the Position

Text: 26 The County claims that Gutowsky's failure to submit an application for the position of road maintenance worker or equipment operator precludes her from maintaining a Section 1983 lawsuit for employment discrimination. The County cites Tagupa v. Board of Directors, 633 F.2d 1309 (9th Cir.1980), for the premise that submission of an application is a necessary element of a Section 1983 claim for wrongful denial of a certain job. 27 The Supreme Court has held, however, that a plaintiff need not apply for a job if the application would have been futile. Int'l Bhd. of Teamsters v. United States, 431 U.S. 324, 365-68, 97 S.Ct. 1843, 1869-71, 52 L.Ed.2d 396 (1977). In such an instance, the plaintiff must show that he or she was a potential victim of unlawful discrimination and, to that end, the plaintiff must establish that he or she would have applied for the job had it not been for those [discriminatory] practices. Id. at 367-68, 97 S.Ct. at 1871. While Teamsters is a Title VII case, we have recognized the potential for its application in Section 1983 actions. Tagupa, 633 F.2d at 1312 n. 2 (stating that, because Tagupa brought forth no evidence to indicate that he was discouraged from applying for the job, he can draw no comfort from the analysis in ... Teamsters ..., wherein the Supreme Court recognized that circumstances may excuse the requirement that a plaintiff apply for the position). 28 The County argues that Gutowsky has not submitted any evidence to show that she reasonably believed that submission of an application for the position would be futile. The jury could very well believe from Gutowsky's evidence of sixty-seven applications by women that included the road maintenance position, that her sixty eighth application would have been futile. She also submitted evidence that no woman has ever been hired for a full-time position in that field. A triable issue of fact is also supported by evidence demonstrating that she was continually rebuffed in her attempts to practice on County equipment in order to enable her to obtain her commercial driver's license.