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Thank you once again, Judge Kozinski
Judge Kozinski, of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, is responsible for the sausage quote we recently shared with you. Well, he’s at it again.
This time, it was in his dissent to the Court’s opinion in a sex bias case. The case focused on a lawsuit brought by a former Harrah’s Casino employee after she was fired for refusing to comply with the casino’s new appearance code requiring, among other things, that she wear makeup. The 9th Circuit upheld the dismissal of her lawsuit, arguing that a requirement that women wear makeup is no more an undue hardship than requiring male bartenders to keep their hair short. On top of that, the Court notes that the employee failed to submit any meaningful evidence, aside from her own opinion, to support her claim that applying makeup constitutes some type of hardship. And while the Court was willing to recognize the woman’s desire to project her appearance as she chooses, that was not sufficient to support “a claim of sex stereotyping.”
And this is where dear Judge Kozinski comes in, providing us with two choice quotes. First, in disagreeing with the majority’s opinion regarding the lack of evidence about women’s hardships in putting on makeup:
We know how long it can take from the hundreds of hours we’ve spent over the years frantically tapping our toes and pointing to our wrists.
Second, in support of his opinion that Harrah’s requirement does create an undue hardship, Judge Kozinski posits:
Imagine, for example, a rule that all judges wear face powder, blush, mascara and lipstick while on the bench….I would find such a regime burdensome and demeaning; it would interfere with my job performance. I suspect many of my colleagues would feel the same way.
Well, I don’t know if such a regime would be burdensome and demeaning, but as an attorney, it would be wildly more entertaining from our side of the bench if the male judges had to drag-queen it up.
