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.
case did not arise on cert or cert not granted federal court conflict federal court conflict and to resolve important or significant question putative conflict conflict between federal court and state court state court conflict federal court confusion or uncertainty state court confusion or uncertainty federal court and state court confusion or uncertainty to resolve important or significant question to resolve question presented no reason given other reason