Does Gender Constitute a Bona Fide Occupational Qualification For Prison Workers?
On July 8, 2010, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit held that the decision by a woman’s prison to hire women only for certain lieutenant positions constituted gender discrimination under the federal anti-discrimination in employment law, Title VII. The Nevada Department of Corrections (NDOC) hired only female correctional lieutenants at a women’s prison. The Ninth Circuit reversed the district court’s decision granting summary judgment, which had upheld NDOC’s discriminatory employment policy, concluding that the policy imposed only a “de minimis” restriction on male prison employees’ promotional opportunities and, alternatively, that the policy fell within Title VII’s exception permitting sex discrimination in jobs for which sex is a bona fide occupational qualification. The Ninth Circuit reversed as to both holdings. The district court had granted NDOC’s motion for summary judgment, holding that the gender restriction on the three correctional lieutenant positio
