Opinion ID: 654597
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Gender

Text: 88 Under the intermediate scrutiny standard, the gender preference is valid if it was substantially related to an important governmental objective. In striking down the gender preference, the district court found insufficient comparisons between the percentage of city businesses owned by women and the percentage of contracts awarded to women-owned businesses. It also relied on testimony before City Council suggesting the preference was solely the product of political compromise. 89 The City contends the gender preference is aimed at the important government objective of remedying economic discrimination against women, and that the ten percent goal is substantially related to this objective. In assessing this argument, we note that [i]n the context of women-business enterprise preferences, the two prongs of this intermediate scrutiny test tend to converge into one. Coral Constr., 941 F.2d at 931. At bottom, we can uphold the construction provisions of this program if the City has established a sufficient factual predicate for the claim that women-owned construction businesses have suffered economic discrimination and the ten percent gender preference is an appropriate response. 19 90 Few cases have considered the evidentiary burden needed to satisfy intermediate scrutiny in this context and there is no Croson analogue to provide a ready reference point. In particular, it is unclear whether statistical evidence as well as anecdotal evidence is required to establish the discrimination necessary to satisfy intermediate scrutiny, and if so, how much statistical evidence is necessary. The Supreme Court gender-preference cases are inconclusive. The Court has never squarely ruled on the necessity of statistical evidence of gender discrimination. And its decisions are difficult to reconcile on the point. The Court has upheld gender preferences where no statistics were offered, Schlesinger v. Ballard, 419 U.S. 498, 508-09, 95 S.Ct. 572, 577-78, 42 L.Ed.2d 610 (1975) (preferential employment treatment for women military officers), struck down gender preferences despite the presence of statistics, Craig v. Boren, 429 U.S. 190, 203-04, 97 S.Ct. 451, 460-61 (1976) (statute allowing 18 year old women but only 21 year old men to purchase 3.2% beer), Weinberger v. Wiesenfeld, 420 U.S. 636, 645, 95 S.Ct. 1225, 1231-32, 43 L.Ed.2d 514 (1975) (statute allowing survivors' benefits for widows but not widowers), and also decided cases both ways by relying in part on statistics, Hogan, 458 U.S. at 728, 102 S.Ct. at 3338 (striking down female-only nursing school), Califano v. Webster, 430 U.S. 313, 318 & n. 5, 97 S.Ct. 1192, 1195 & n. 5, 51 L.Ed.2d 360 (1977) (upholding federal statute allowing women to eliminate more low-earning years from calculation of their retirement benefits than men). 91 Lower court cases are similarly diverse. In Coral Constr., 941 F.2d at 933, the Ninth Circuit emphasized a single, albeit lengthy, affidavit from a woman business owner in affirming summary judgment upholding a contract preference ordinance, although the court elsewhere noted three affidavits had been presented, id. at 917-18. Yet in AGC of California, the same court, relying on Hogan, upheld a general challenge to a gender preference in San Francisco's contracting ordinance but expressly left open the possibility of a future challenge regarding application of the ordinance to an industry where women are not disadvantaged. 813 F.2d at 942. Additionally, two circuits are divided over whether evidence of governmental discrimination against women is required to establish the important government interest needed to satisfy a sex-based affirmative action program. CompareCoral Constr., 941 F.2d at 932 (no such evidence needed) withMichigan Road Builders, 834 F.2d at 595 (evidence needed). Logically, a city must be able to rely on less evidence in enacting a gender preference than a racial preference because applying Croson's evidentiary standard to a gender preference would eviscerate the difference between strict and intermediate scrutiny. 92 The Supreme Court has stated that an affirmative action program survives intermediate scrutiny if the proponent can show it was a product of analysis rather than a stereotyped reaction based on habit. Metro Broadcasting, Inc. v. F.C.C., 497 U.S. 547, 582-83, 110 S.Ct. 2997, 3018-19, 111 L.Ed.2d 445 (1990) (citation and internal quotation marks omitted). We believe this standard requires the City to present probative evidence in support of its stated rationale for the gender preference, discrimination against women-owned contractors. CompareMetro Broadcasting, 497 U.S. at 580, 110 S.Ct. at 3017 (a host of empirical evidence supported the linkage between minority ownership of radio stations and broadcasting diversity, the challenged program's stated goal). 93 The City has not produced enough evidence of discrimination here. In its brief, the City relies on statistics in the City Council Finance Committee Report and one affidavit from a woman engaged in the catering business, but this evidence only reflects the participation of women in City contracting generally, rather than in the construction industry, which is the only cognizable issue here. 94 The evidence offered by the City regarding women-owned construction businesses is insufficient to create an issue of fact. Significantly, the Brimmer study contains no disparity index for women-owned construction businesses in City contracting, such as that presented for minority-owned businesses. 20 Given the absence of probative statistical evidence, the City must rely solely on anecdotal evidence to establish gender discrimination necessary to support the Ordinance. But the record contains only one three-page affidavit alleging gender discrimination in the construction industry. The only other testimony on this subject consists of a single, conclusory sentence of one witness who appeared at a City Council hearing. 21 This evidence is not enough to create a triable issue of fact regarding gender discrimination under the intermediate scrutiny standard. Therefore, we will affirm the grant of summary judgment invalidating the gender preference for construction contracts. We see no impediment to the City re-enacting the preference if it can provide probative evidence of discrimination.