Sprogis v. United Air Lines, Inc.
United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
444 F.2d 1194 (1971)
- Written by Kelsey Libby, JD
Facts
Mary Burke Sprogis (plaintiff) was employed as a flight attendant by United Air Lines, Inc. (United) defendant). On June 19, 1966, United discharged Sprogis because she violated a policy requiring that flight attendants be unmarried. United had implemented the policy after it received complaints about scheduling from the husbands of married women. The policy had never been enforced against male flight attendants, although men were eligible for only a limited number of flight-attendant positions. Sprogis filed suit against United, asserting that her termination constituted sex discrimination under the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The district court entered summary judgment in favor of Sprogis, finding that United’s no-marriage policy was unlawful. United appealed, arguing that (1) the no-marriage policy simply distinguished between categories of employees like a physical or educational requirement and (2) marital status constituted a bona fide occupational qualification (BFOQ).
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Cummings, J.)
Dissent (Stevens, J.)
What to do next…
Here's why 806,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:
- Written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students. 46,300 briefs, keyed to 988 casebooks. Top-notch customer support.
- The right amount of information, includes the facts, issues, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents.
- Access in your classes, works on your mobile and tablet. Massive library of related video lessons and high quality multiple-choice questions.
- Easy to use, uniform format for every case brief. Written in plain English, not in legalese. Our briefs summarize and simplify; they don’t just repeat the court’s language.
