Court Opinion

ID: 9484526
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 09:55:50.42008+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:50:17.677775
License: Public Domain

BOOCHEVER, Circuit Judge,
dissenting in part:
I agree with most of the majority’s carefully crafted opinion. I dissent, however, from the majority’s rejection of the EEOC guidelines. The guidelines provide that an employee establishes a prima facie case in a disparate impact claim by proving the existence of an English-only policy, thereby shifting the burden to the employer to show a business necessity for the rule. See 29 C.F.R. § 1606.7(b) (1991) (“An employer may have a rule requiring that employees speak only in English at certain times where the employer can show that the rule is justified by business necessity.”). I would defer to the Commission’s expertise in construing the Act, by virtue of which it concluded that English-only rules may “create an atmosphere of inferiority, isolation and intimidation based on national origin which could result in a discriminatory working environment.” Id. § 1606.7(a).
As the majority indicates, proof of such an effect of English-only rules requires analysis of subjective factors. It is hard to envision how the burden of proving such an effect would be met other than by conclusory self-serving statements of the Spanish-speaking employees or possibly by expert testimony of psychologists. The difficulty of meeting such a burden may well have been one of the reasons for the promulgation of the guideline. On the other hand, it should not be difficult for an employer to give specific reasons for the policy, such as the safety reasons advanced in this case.
It is true that EEOC regulations are entitled to somewhat less weight than those promulgated by an agency with Congressionally delegated rulemaking authority. General Elec. Co. v. Gilbert, 429 U.S. 125, 141, 97 S.Ct. 401, 410, 50 L.Ed.2d 343 (1976). Nevertheless, the EEOC guideline is entitled to “great deference” in the absence of “compelling indications that it is wrong.” Espinoza *1491v. Farah Mfg. Co., 414 U.S. 86, 94-95, 94 S.Ct. 334, 339-340, 38 L.Ed.2d 287 (1973). While one may reasonably differ with the EEOC’s position as a matter of policy, I can find no such “compelling indications” in this ease. The lack of directly supporting language in § 703(a)(1) or the legislative history of Title VII, relied on by the majority, does not in my- opinion make the guideline “inconsistent with an obvious congressional intent not to reach the employment practice in question.” Id. at 94, 94 S.Ct. at 339.
I conclude that if appropriate deference is given to the administrative interpretation of the Act, we should follow the guideline and uphold the district court’s decision that a prima facie case was established. I believe, however, that triable issues were presented whether Spun Steak established a business justification for the rule, and I would remand for trial of that issue.