Teamsters Local No. 117 v. Washington Department of Corrections

In 2008 the Washington Department of Corrections (the department) (defendant) requested that the state’s Human Rights Commission (the commission) allow it to adopt a sex-based staffing policy for two women’s prisons. Under the policy, the department would hire female guards for positions that required sensitive and intimate inmate interactions, such as observing undressed inmates in the bathroom and showers and conducting routine pat and strip searches. The department explained that the sex-based staffing policy was to ensure security while also protecting the prisoners’ privacy rights. The department made the request after an internal investigation revealed that male guards had sexually harassed and engaged in sexual intercourse with several prisoners. The department further explained that increasing the number of female guards within the prisons would reduce sexual misconduct. The commission approved the request. Teamsters Local No. 117 (the union) (plaintiff) filed an action in federal district court against the department. The union alleged that the department’s sex-based staffing policy amounted to improper sex discrimination and sex stereotyping that violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The union argued that the department engaged in sex stereotyping by assuming that male guards were likely to commit sexual abuse. The department claimed that the sex-based staffing policy amounted to a bona fide occupational qualification (BFOQ). The district court granted the department summary judgment. The matter was appealed.