Sex Discrimination Win on Hill May Impact Catholic University Law Suit

July 27, 2011 - PRLog -- The same public interest law professor who has filed a sex discrimination complaint over Catholic University's move to all sex-segregated dorms just scored a major victory when the US House of Representatives, triggered by his earlier-filed legal complaint of sex discrimination on the Hill, acquiesced by providing a female restroom adjacent to the House floor, similar to one long provided for male members. http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2011/07/26/congresswomen-get-closer-restroom-in-nod-to-potty-parity/

His latest victory on Capitol Hill -- which follows his earlier victories in sex discrimination cases against dry cleaners that charged more to launder women's shirts, hair cutters that charged women more for the same simple hair cut, bars that charged men more on ladies nights, former men's clubs like the Cosmos and Metropolitan Clubs which refused to admit women, and former all-male state-supported military academies like The Citadel which admitted only men -- underscores the seriousness and viability of his complaint charging Catholic U's president with illegal sex discrimination under the Human Rights Act.

"The Cosmos Club, The Citadel, dry cleaners, hair cutters, bars and even DC's City Paper all argued that my sex discrimination complaints were frivolous if not unconstitutional, but in the end they were all forced to end their discriminatory policies," notes Prof. John Banzhaf, who pointed out that his complaint about sex discrimination by the House prompted the Architect of the Capitol to promise that 'options are being considered for adding additional restrooms' for female members.  Now one of those options has been implemented, and female members of the House finally enjoy restroom equity, sometimes also called potty parity, he announced. http://www.prlog.org/11600122-restroom-equity-comes-to-hi...

"Except in very rare instances where nudity is involved, discrimination on the basis of sex is as unlawful under the Human Rights Act as discrimination based upon race, religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation, etc. -- whether it's practiced by the US Congress, 100-year-old world-famous private clubs, private businesses like dry cleaners and hair cutters, or by universities like The Citadel or Catholic U," argued Banzhaf.

Indeed, he notes that Georgetown, another private Catholic university, was ordered to cease discriminating against gay students on the basis of their sexual orientation, despite very strong Catholic teachings on the issue of homosexuality.

Similarly, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission [EEOC] found that a decision by Belmont Abbey College -- a very religious Catholic college runs by monks -- not to provide contraceptive pills under its health care coverage was discriminatory because it denied a benefit to women only. The policy was held to constitute illegal sex discrimination, despite the long standing and very strong beliefs opposing contraception by the Catholic church and its followers, and despite the fact that state law provided an exemption for religious organizations.

"Because of concerns about nudity, and because they could not otherwise operate, universities may of course have separate male and female locker rooms, shower facilities, and rest rooms, but they can no more have all dormitories segregated by sex than they could have all dormitories segregated by race, religion, ethnicity, or sexual orientation -- regardless of their purposes, religious or otherwise.  Moreover, they can no more have all sex-segregated dorms than sex-segregated on-campus parking lots, building entrances, classroom buildings, or courses at the university," he said.

Discrimination based upon any of the factor listed in the Human Rights Act is illegal unless an entity -- such as a private business or private university -- can show that, without the discrimination, it literally could not remain in business.  Since Catholic U has had mixed-gender dormitories for more than 25 years -- as does Georgetown and other Catholic universities -- it will be impossible for them to meet this very exacting requirement for an exemption, argues Banzhaf.

In a related development, it now appears that although Catholic U President John Garvey said he was mandating all sex-segregated dorms to reduce the sexual promiscuity characterized by "hooking up," the author of a major study upon which Garvey relied said the move misapplies his research, and a very recent more detailed study by a Catholic organization not only calls such evidence merely "anecdotal," but explains how and why Catholic institutions themselves are a major cause of the hooking up problem. http://www.prlog.org/11598345-catholic-colleges-are-major...

JOHN F. BANZHAF III, B.S.E.E., J.D., Sc.D.
Professor of Law
George Washington University Law School,
FAMRI Dr. William Cahan Distinguished Professor,
Fellow, World Technology Network,
Founder, Action on Smoking and Health (ASH)
Creator, Banzhaf Index of Voting Power
2000 H Street, NW, Suite S402
Washington, DC 20052, USA
(202) 994-7229 // (703) 527-8418
http://banzhaf.net/

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John F. Banzhaf III is a Professor of Public Interest Law at George Washington University Law School [http://banzhaf.net/] where he is best known for his work regarding smoking [http://ash.org/], obesity [http://banzhaf.net/obesitylinks.html], etc.