Opinion ID: 377034
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Sex-based Discrimination

Text: 8 The recent Supreme Court case of Nashville Gas Co. v. Satty, 434 U.S. 136, 98 S.Ct. 347, 54 L.Ed.2d 356 (1977), is dispositive of the issue of sex-based discrimination in this appeal. There the Court held that the employer's policy of denying accumulated seniority to female employees returning from pregnancy leave, although facially neutral in its treatment of male vis-a-vis female employees, did not merely refuse to extend to women a benefit that men could not and did not receive, but imposed on female employees a substantial burden that men need not suffer and thus in the absence of proof of any business necessity for it, constituted an unlawful employment practice. In distinguishing the case from General Electric Co. v. Gilbert, 429 U.S. 125, 97 S.Ct. 401, 50 L.Ed.2d 343 (1976), the Court pointed out that while greater economic benefits need not be paid to one sex or the other because of their different roles in the scheme of existence, see Gilbert, supra, 429 U.S. at 138-40, 97 S.Ct. at 409-10, an employer may not burden female employees in such a way as to deprive them of employment opportunities because of their role. Satty, supra, 434 U.S. at 142, 98 S.Ct. at 351. Thus, although in Satty the employer's decision not to treat pregnancy as a disease or disability for purposes of seniority retention was not on its face a discriminatory policy, policies neutral on their face but having a discriminatory effect may run afoul of § 703(a)(2). Id. at 141, 98 S.Ct. at 350. See Griggs v. Duke Power Co., 401 U.S. 424, 431, 91 S.Ct. 849, 854, 28 L.Ed.2d 158 (1971). Because the employer's policy of denying employees returning from pregnancy leave their accumulated seniority acted to deprive them of employment opportunities and adversely affected their status as employees, it unlawfully imposed upon women a substantial burden that male employees would never bear thereby discriminating against women because of their sex. Satty, supra, 434 U.S. at 141-42, 98 S.Ct. at 350-51. 9 In our view, Thiokol's policy of requiring women who have been on pregnancy leave to have sustained a normal menstrual cycle before they can return to work clearly deprives female employees of employment opportunities and imposes on them a burden which male employees need not suffer. After Harper had a miscarriage on June 13, 1971, she attempted to return to work on three different occasions prior to the expiration of her 90-day maternity leave. Although her doctor had declared her physically able to return to work, she was denied reinstatement by Thiokol because she had no proof of having experienced a normal menstrual cycle. Because her menstrual period did not occur until December 1971, well after the expiration of her maternity leave, Harper was terminated and thereby effectively denied employment opportunities. Under the Satty rationale and its progeny, in the absence of any business justification, the policy constitutes an unlawful employment practice in violation of section 703(a)(2). See In re Southwestern Bell Telephone Co. Maternity Benefits Litigation, 602 F.2d 845, 849 (8th Cir. 1979) (policy of guaranteeing reinstatement to job position held prior to leave to employees returning from disability leave for nonoccupational illness other than pregnancy, while failing to guarantee reinstatement to female employees returning to work immediately after pregnancy-related disability constituted unlawful sex discrimination); deLaurier v. San Diego Unified School District, 588 F.2d 674, 684-85 (9th Cir. 1978) (rule which forbade use of accumulated sick leave benefits for maternity leave illegally discriminated against female teachers on basis of sex); Pennington v. Lexington School District 2, 578 F.2d 546, 548-49 (4th Cir. 1978) (reinstatement policy requiring physically fit female teachers to remain on leave for entire school year after pregnancy while allowing employees absent for other disabilities to return to work would constitute unlawful sex discrimination absent business justification for rule). 10 Once it is ascertained that an employer's facially neutral employment policy operates to deprive women of employment opportunities, the court must determine whether the company's business necessitates the adoption of particular leave policies. Satty, supra, 434 U.S. at 143, 98 S.Ct. at 352; Griggs, supra, 401 U.S. at 431, 91 S.Ct. at 853. However, where there is no proof of any business necessity adduced with respect to the policy in question, (the) court (is) entitled to 'assume no justification exists.'  Satty, supra, 434 U.S. at 143, 98 S.Ct. at 352, quoting Satty v. Nashville Gas Co., 384 F.Supp. 765, 771 (M.D.Tenn.1974). Here, Thiokol is unable or unwilling to articulate a business justification for its rule; rather it argues that because the menstrual cycle rule was facially neutral in that it did not favor one sex over the other, it was not required to justify its rule by proof of business necessity. This is plainly contrary to the Supreme Court's holding in Satty, and thus in the absence of any evidence of business necessity the district court properly assumed that no justification existed for the rule. Therefore, the district court's conclusion that Thiokol engaged in unlawful employment practices by denying appellee Harper the right to return to work prior to her having a normal menstrual cycle was correct, particularly in light of the fact that her doctor had declared her physically able to return to work well before she had experienced a normal cycle in December 1971. 11 Thiokol's policy is also unlawful under the recent sex plus decisions by this court and others. See Jefferies v. Harris County Community Action Association, 615 F.2d 1025, 1033-34 (5th Cir. 1980). Following the Supreme Court's decision in Phillips v. Martin Marietta Corp., 400 U.S. 542, 544, 91 S.Ct. 496, 497-98, 27 L.Ed.2d 613 (1971), where it was held that section 703(a) of the Act cannot be read to permit an employer to adopt one policy for men and another for women and thereby deny persons of like qualifications equal employment opportunities because of their sex, courts have consistently held that company rules which single out certain subclasses of women for disparate treatment constitute unlawful sex discrimination. Thus employers can no longer escape violations of Title VII by adding nonsex factors in creating discriminatory policies. Jefferies, supra, 615 F.2d at 1034. See In re Consolidated Pretrial Proceedings in Airline Cases, 582 F.2d 1142, 1145 (7th Cir. 1978) (airline's policy requiring female cabin attendants who become mothers to resign or accept ground duty position constituted sex discrimination); Jacobs v. Martin Sweets Co., 550 F.2d 364, 369-71 (6th Cir. 1977) (transfer of unwed pregnant woman against her wishes to inferior position constituted constructive termination in violation of Title VII), cert. denied, 431 U.S. 917, 97 S.Ct. 2180, 53 L.Ed.2d 227 (1977); Sprogis v. United Air Lines, Inc., 444 F.2d 1194, 1198 (7th Cir.) (no marriage rule which applied only to female flight attendants was unlawful sex discrimination), cert. denied, 404 U.S. 991, 92 S.Ct. 536, 30 L.Ed.2d 543 (1971); Lansdale v. United Airlines, Inc., 437 F.2d 454, 455 (5th Cir. 1971) (no marriage rule for stewardesses reconsidered in light of Phillips, supra ). Thus, under the rationale of these cases an employer may not lawfully single out postpartal women who have failed to sustain a normal menstrual cycle for discriminatory treatment. 2 12