ARIZONA GOVERNING COMMITTEE FOR TAX DEFERRED ANNUITY AND DEFERRED COMPENSATION PLANS et al. v. NORRIS
No. 82-52.
Argued March 28, 1983 —
Decided July 6, 1983
John L. Endicott, Special Assistant Attorney General of Arizona, argued the cause for petitioners. With him on the briefs were Robert K. Corbin, Attorney General, and John L. Jones, Assistant Attorney General.
Amy Jo Gittler argued the cause for respondent. With her on the brief was Neal J. Beets
Briefs of amici curiae urging reversal were filed by Jim Smith, Attorney General, and Mitchell D. Franks, Assistant Attorney General, for the State of Florida; by Harry L. Dubrin, Jr., for the New York State Teachers’ Retirement System; by Erwin N. Griswold, Jack H. Blaine, and Edward J. Zimmerman for the American Council of Life Insurance; by Robert E. Williams, Douglas S. McDowell, and Monte B. Lake for the Equal Employment Advisory Council; by William R. Glendon, James B. Weidner, and James W. Paul for the Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association et al.; and by Spencer L. Kimball for the National Association of Insurance Commissioners.
Briefs of amici curiae urging affirmance were filed by Lawrence White, Woodley B. Osborne, Joy L, Koletsky, Ralph S. Spritzer, and John L. Pottenger, Jr., for the American Association of University Professors et al.; by Mary L. Heen, Burt Neubome, Isabelle Katz Pinzler, Joan E. Bertin, and Charles S. Sims for the American Civil Liberties Union et al.; by J. Albert Woll, Marsha Berzon, Laurence Gold, and Winn Newman for the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations et al.; by Jonathan R. Harkavy, Edward W. Kriss, and Nahomi Harkavy for the American Nurses’ Association; by Richard C. Dinkelspiel, Norman Redlich, William L. Robinson, Norman J. Chachkin, Beatrice Rosenberg, Richard T. Seymour, Jack Greenberg, James M. Nabrit III, and Barry L. Goldstein for the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law et al.; and by Robert A. Jablon and Ron M. Landsman for the National Insurance Consumer Organization.
Briefs of amici curiae were filed by Lawrence J. Latto, Stephen J. Hadley, and William D. Hager for the American Academy of Actuaries; and by Terry Rose Saunders for Eight Individual Actuaries.
Per Curiam.
Petitioners in this case administer a deferred compensation plan for employees of the State of Arizona. The respondent class consists of all female employees who are enrolled in the plan or will enroll in the plan in the future. Certiorari was granted to decide whether Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 78 Stat. 253, as amended, 42 U. S. C. §2000e et seq. (1976 ed. and Supp. V), prohibits an employer from offering its employees the option of receiving retirement benefits from one of several companies selected by the employer, all of which pay lower monthly retirement benefits to a woman than to a man who has made the same contributions; and whether, if so, the relief awarded by the District Court was proper. 459 U. S. 904 (1982). The Court holds that this practice does constitute discrimination on the basis of sex in violation of Title VII, and that all retirement benefits derived from contributions made after the decision today must be calculated without regard to the sex of the beneficiary. This position is expressed in Parts I, II, and III of the opinion of Justice Marshall, post, at this page and 1076-1091, which are joined by Justice Brennan, Justice White, Justice Stevens, and Justice O’Connor. The Court further holds that benefits derived from contributions made prior to this decision may be calculated as provided by the existing terms of the Arizona plan. This position is expressed in Part III of the opinion of Justice Powell, post, at 1105, which is joined by The Chief Justice, Justice Blackmun, Justice Rehnquist, and Justice O’Connor. Accordingly, the judgment of the Court of Appeals is affirmed in part and reversed in part, and the case is remanded for further proceedings consistent with this opinion. The Clerk is directed to issue the judgment August 1, 1983.
It is so ordered.
What follows is an opinion from the Supreme Court of the United States. Your task is to determine the ideological "direction" of the decision ("liberal", "conservative", or "unspecifiable"). Use "unspecifiable" if the issue does not lend itself to a liberal or conservative description (e.g., a boundary dispute between two states, real property, wills and estates), or because no convention exists as to which is the liberal side and which is the conservative side (e.g., the legislative veto). Specification of the ideological direction comports with conventional usage. In the context of issues pertaining to criminal procedure, civil rights, First Amendment, due process, privacy, and attorneys, consider liberal to be pro-person accused or convicted of crime, or denied a jury trial, pro-civil liberties or civil rights claimant, especially those exercising less protected civil rights (e.g., homosexuality), pro-child or juvenile, pro-indigent pro-Indian, pro-affirmative action, pro-neutrality in establishment clause cases, pro-female in abortion, pro-underdog, anti-slavery, incorporation of foreign territories anti-government in the context of due process, except for takings clause cases where a pro-government, anti-owner vote is considered liberal except in criminal forfeiture cases or those where the taking is pro-business violation of due process by exercising jurisdiction over nonresident, pro-attorney or governmental official in non-liability cases, pro-accountability and/or anti-corruption in campaign spending pro-privacy vis-a-vis the 1st Amendment where the privacy invaded is that of mental incompetents, pro-disclosure in Freedom of Information Act issues except for employment and student records. In the context of issues pertaining to unions and economic activity, consider liberal to be pro-union except in union antitrust where liberal = pro-competition, pro-government, anti-business anti-employer, pro-competition, pro-injured person, pro-indigent, pro-small business vis-a-vis large business pro-state/anti-business in state tax cases, pro-debtor, pro-bankrupt, pro-Indian, pro-environmental protection, pro-economic underdog pro-consumer, pro-accountability in governmental corruption, pro-original grantee, purchaser, or occupant in state and territorial land claims anti-union member or employee vis-a-vis union, anti-union in union antitrust, anti-union in union or closed shop, pro-trial in arbitration. In the context of issues pertaining to judicial power, consider liberal to be pro-exercise of judicial power, pro-judicial "activism", pro-judicial review of administrative action. In the context of issues pertaining to federalism, consider liberal to be pro-federal power, pro-executive power in executive/congressional disputes, anti-state. In the context of issues pertaining to federal taxation, consider liberal to be pro-United States and conservative pro-taxpayer. In miscellaneous, consider conservative the incorporation of foreign territories and executive authority vis-a-vis congress or the states or judcial authority vis-a-vis state or federal legislative authority, and consider liberal legislative veto. In interstate relations and private law issues, consider unspecifiable in all cases.