Sumitomo Shoji America, Inc. v. Avagliano et al. (457 U.S. 176)
U.S. Supreme Court · decided June 15, 1982 · Supreme Court Database (Spaeth)
- Citation
- 457 U.S. 176 · 102 S. Ct. 2374
- Decided
- June 15, 1982
- Term
- October Term 1981
- Vote
- 9–0
- Majority author
- Justice Burger
- Issue area
- Civil Rights
- Disposition
- Vacated and remanded
- Outcome
- Petitioning party lost
- Ideological direction
- Liberal
Opinion excerpt
Chief Justice Burger delivered the opinion of the Court. We granted certiorari to decide whether Article VIII(l) of the Friendship, Commerce and Navigation Treaty between the United States and Japan provides a defense to a Title VII employment discrimination suit against an American subsidiary of a Japanese company. I Petitioner, Sumitomo Shoji America, Inc., is a New York corporation and a wholly owned subsidiary of Sumitomo Shoji Kabushiki Kaisha, a Japanese general trading company or sogo shosha. Respondents are past and present female secretarial employees of Sumitomo. All but one of the respondents are United States citizens; that one exception is a Japanese citizen living in the United States. Respondents brought this suit as a class action claiming that Sumitomo’s alleged practice of hiring only male Japanese citizens to fill executive, managerial, and sales positions violated both 42 U. S. C. § 1981 and 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. IV). Respondents sought both injunctive relief and damages. Without admitting the alleged discriminatory practice, Sumitomo moved under Rule 12(b)(6) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure to dismiss the complaint. Sumitomo’s motion was based on two grounds: (1) discrimination on the basis of Japanese citizenship does not violate Title VII or § 1981;…
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