Jespersen v. Harrah's Operating Co., Inc.

• Decision Date: 28 December 2004
• Docket Number: No. 03-15045.,03-15045.
• Citation: 392 F.3d 1076
• Parties: Darlene JESPERSEN, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. HARRAH'S OPERATING COMPANY, INC., Defendant-Appellee.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Ninth Circuit

Page 1076

392 F.3d 1076

Darlene JESPERSEN, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. HARRAH'S OPERATING COMPANY, INC., Defendant-Appellee.

No. 03-15045.

United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit.

Argued and Submitted December 3, 2003.

Filed December 28, 2004.

Jennifer C. Pizer, Lambda Legal Defense & Education Fund, Inc., Los Angeles, CA, for the plaintiff-appellant.

Veronica Arechederra Hall, Littler Mendelson, Las Vegas, NV, for the defendant-appellee.

Allen Lichtenstein, American Civil Liberties Union of Nevada, Las Vegas, NV, for amici curiae American Civil Liberties Union of Nevada, Northwest Women's Law Center, California Women's Law Center, and The Gender Public Advocacy Coalition.

Jeffrey W. Erdman, Bennett & Erdman, Los Angeles, CA, for amici curiae National Employment Lawyers Association, Alliance for Workers' Rights, and The Legal Aid Society — Employment Law Center.

Joseph E. Schuler, Littler Mendelson, Washington, D.C., for amici curiae Council for Employment Law Equity, American Hotel & Lodging Association, and California Hotel & Lodging Association.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of Nevada; Edward C. Reed, Jr., District Judge, Presiding. D.C. No. CV 01-0401 ECR.

Before: TASHIMA, THOMAS, and SILVERMAN, Circuit Judges.

TASHIMA, Circuit Judge:

Plaintiff Darlene Jespersen, a bartender at Harrah's Casino in Reno, Nevada, brought this Title VII action alleging that her employer's policy requiring that certain female employees wear makeup discriminates against her on the basis of sex. The district court granted summary judgment for Harrah's, holding that its policy did not constitute sex discrimination because it imposed equal burdens on both sexes. We have jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1291, and we affirm.

I.

The following facts are undisputed. Darlene Jespersen was a bartender at the sports bar in Harrah's Casino in Reno, Nevada, for nearly 20 years. She was an outstanding employee. Over the years, Jespersen's supervisors commented that she was "highly effective," that her attitude was "very positive," and that she made a "positive impression" on Harrah's guests. Harrah's customers repeatedly praised Jespersen on employee feedback forms, writing that Jespersen's excellent service and good attitude enhanced their experience at the sports bar and encouraged them to come back.

Throughout the 1980s and '90s Harrah's encouraged its female beverage servers to wear makeup, but wearing makeup was not a formal requirement. Although Jespersen never cared for makeup, she tried wearing it for a short period of time in the 1980s. But she found that wearing makeup made her feel sick, degraded, exposed, and violated. Jespersen felt that wearing makeup "forced her to be feminine" and to become "dolled up" like a sexual object, and that wearing makeup actually interfered with her ability to be an effective bartender (which sometimes required her to deal with unruly, intoxicated guests) because it "took away [her] credibility as an individual and as a person." After a few weeks, Jespersen stopped wearing makeup because it was so harmful to her dignity and her effectiveness behind the bar that she could no longer do her job. Harrah's did not object to Jespersen's choice not to wear makeup and Jespersen continued to work at the sports bar and receive positive performance reviews for over a decade.

In February 2000, Harrah's implemented its "Beverage Department Image Transformation" program at 20 Harrah's locations, including its casino in Reno. The goal of the program was to create a "brand standard of excellence" throughout Harrah's operations, with an emphasis on guest service positions. The program imposed specific "appearance standards" on each of its employees in guest services, including heightened requirements for beverage servers. All beverage servers were required to be "well groomed, appealing to the eye, be firm and body toned, and be comfortable with maintaining this look while wearing the specified uniform." In addition to these general appearance standards applicable to both sexes, there were gender-specific standards for male and female beverage servers. Female beverage servers were required to wear stockings and colored nail polish, and they were required to wear their hair "teased, curled, or styled." Male beverage servers were prohibited from wearing makeup or colored nail polish, and they were required to maintain short haircuts and neatly trimmed fingernails.¹

Harrah's called its new appearance standards the "Personal Best" program. In order to enforce the "Personal Best" standards, Harrah's required each beverage service employee to attend "Personal Best Image Training" prior to his or her final uniform fitting. At the training, "Personal Best Image Facilitators" instructed Harrah's employees on how to adhere to the standards of the program and tested their proficiency. At the conclusion of the training, two photographs (one portrait and one full body) were taken of the employee looking his or her "Personal Best." Each employee's "Personal Best" photographs were placed in his or her file and distributed to his or her supervisor. The supervisors used the "Personal Best" photographs as an "appearance measurement" tool, holding each employee accountable to look his or her "Personal Best" on a daily basis. Jespersen acknowledged receipt of the policy and committed to adhere to the appearance standards for her position as a beverage bartender in March 2000.

Shortly thereafter, however, the "Personal Best" standards were amended such that in addition to the existing appearance standards, all female beverage servers (including beverage bartenders) were required to wear makeup.² As before, male beverage servers were prohibited from wearing makeup. Because of her objection to wearing makeup, Jespersen refused to comply with the new policy. In July 2000, Harrah's told Jespersen that the makeup requirement was mandatory for female beverage service employees and gave her 30 days to apply for a position that did not require makeup to be worn. At the expiration of the 30-day period, Jespersen had not applied for another job, and she was terminated.

After exhausting her administrative remedies with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Jespersen brought this action alleging that Harrah's makeup requirement for female beverage servers constituted disparate treatment sex discrimination in violation of 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-2(a) ("Title VII"). The district court granted Harrah's motion for summary judgment, holding that the "Personal Best" policy did not run afoul of Title VII because (1) it did not discriminate against Jespersen on the basis of "immutable characteristics" associated with her sex, and (2) it imposed equal burdens on both sexes. Jespersen timely appealed from the judgment.

II.

We review the grant of summary judgment de novo. United States v. City of Tacoma, 332 F.3d 574, 578 (9th Cir.2003). Summary judgment is proper where no genuine issues of material fact remain in dispute, such that the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c). The moving party has the initial burden of informing the court of the basis for its motion and identifying the absence of any genuine issue of material fact. Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 323, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986). Where the moving party is not the party bearing the burden of proof at trial, it can meet its initial burden simply by "identifying those portions of `the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file, together with the affidavits, if any,' which it believes demonstrate the absence of a genuine issue of material fact." Id. (quoting Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c)); see also Nissan Fire & Marine Ins. Co. v. Fritz Cos., 210 F.3d 1099, 1105 (9th Cir.2000). Once the moving party has met its initial burden, the non-moving party must produce some evidence showing that there remains a genuine issue of material fact for trial. Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 248-49, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986). An issue is "genuine" only where there is sufficient evidence for a reasonable fact finder to find for the non-moving party. Far Out Prods., Inc. v. Oskar, 247 F.3d 986, 992 (9th Cir.2001) (citing Anderson, 477 U.S. at 248-49, 106 S.Ct. 2505). We view the evidence in the light most favorable to the non-moving party. Id.

III.

Title VII prohibits employers from discriminating against "any individual with respect to ... compensation, terms, conditions, or privileges of employment, because of such individual's... sex." 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-2(a)(1). In order to prevail on a Title VII disparate treatment sex discrimination claim, an employee need only establish that, but for his or her sex, he or she would have been treated differently. UAW v. Johnson Controls, Inc., 499 U.S. 187, 200, 111 S.Ct. 1196, 113 L.Ed.2d 158 (1991) (citing Los Angeles Dep't of Water & Power v. Manhart, 435 U.S. 702, 711, 98 S.Ct. 1370, 55 L.Ed.2d 657 (1978)). Although the employee must prove that the employer acted intentionally, the intent need not have been malevolent. Id. at 199, 111 S.Ct. 1196 ("Whether an employment practice involves disparate treatment through explicit facial discrimination does not depend on why the employer discriminates but rather on the explicit terms of the discrimination.").³

Pursuant to the "Personal Best" program, women are required to wear makeup, while men are prohibited from doing so. Women are required to wear their hair "teased, curled, or styled" each day, whereas men are only required to maintain short haircuts. We must decide whether these standards are discriminatory; whether they are "based on a policy which on its face applies less favorably to one gender...." Gerdom v. Continental Airlines, Inc., 692 F.2d 602, 608 (9th Cir.1982). If so, then Harrah's would have discriminated against Jespersen "because of ... sex." 42...