Petitioners Brief — EEOC v. Arabian American Oil Co.

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FILED

a 4 ; nO" 15

i393 Factual

In the Supreme Court of the Gnited States

OCTOBER TERM, 1990

EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY

COMMISSION, PETITIONER

ARABIAN AMERICAN OiL CO., ET AL.

ALI BOURESLAN, PETITIONER

ARABIAN AMERICAN OIL CO., ET AL.

ON WRITS OF CERTIORARI

TO THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT

BRIEF FOR THE

EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY COMMISSION

KENNETH W. STARR

Solicitor General

JOHN R. DUNNE

Assistant Attorney General

JOHN G. ROBERTS, JR.

et Deputy Solicitor General

DONALD R. LIVINGSTON

ing G IC ' STEPHEN L. NIGHTINGALE

Pen omy 6» all sense

S Wohnen De 20530

VINCENT J. BLACKWOOD (202) $14-2217 ;

eet Mii ei 4

QUESTION PRESENTED

Whether Title Vil of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C.

2000e ef seq., prohibits employment discrimination outside the

United States by an American corporation against an American

cnizen.

PARTIES TO THE PROCEEDING

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, which in-

tervened as an appellant in the court of appeals, is the petitioner

in No. 89-1838. Ali Boureslan, the pla ntiff-appellant below, is

the petitioner in No. 89-1845. Arabian American Oil Company

and Aramco Services Company, defendants-appellees below,

are the respondents in both cases.

~~ ee

Opinions below

Jurisdiction

Statutory provisions involved ......................

Statement

TABLE OF CONTENTS

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Argument:

Title VII manifests a clear congressional inten-

tion to prohibit discrimination outside the

United States by American employers against

ee i ke wana cee ccc<

Concern for potential conflicts with the laws ~

By its terms, Title VII prohibits in-

vidious employment discrimination

against American citizens outside the

Title VII's exemption for aliens with

respect to employment outside the

United States clearly manifests an in-

tention to protect American citizens

with respect to employment outside the

Other provisions of Tithe VII are con-

sistent with its application § to

discrimination by American employers

against American citizens abroad .....

The EEOC, the agency charged with

administrative enforcement of Title

VII, has interpreted the statute to apply

to discrimination against Americans

EEE ata

of other nations does not warrant limiting

Title VII to discrimination within the United

States

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Cases:

Page

A. The alien exemption represents Con-

gress’s solution to potential conflicts of

DC cen lead hei aenne bees 25

B. Properly applied, Title VII does not

create a serious potential for conflicts

with international norms or the laws of

PE cout edsveccccasccesess 25

C. Title VII's treatment of conflicts with

state law provides no basis for ques-

tioning the extraterritorial application

GEE owecccdBecccessececes: 29

D. The 1984 amendments to the ADEA do

not justify a distinction between age

discrimination and discrimination

based upon race, sex, national origin,

OP GD hoe b0cbceceusebscedwnss 31

CID 0 osc ccccrenccscccccossessesce peveusess 32

TABLE OF AUTHORITIES

Akgun v. Boeing Co., No. C89-1319D (W.D.

A ER oo od nd ccuncedbadeesecse 14

American Banana Co. v. United Fruit Co., 213

FE eee eta )

Andrus v. Glover Constr. Co., 446 U.S. 608

ee a eee eee eed ee 13

Argentine Republic v. Amerada Hess Shipping

Co., 109 S. Ct 683 (1989) ... 2.22 eee, v)

Arrocha v. Panama Canal Comm'n, 609 F. Supp.

kon dere snes bane ees 19

Atascadero State Hosp. v. Scanlon, 473 U.S. 234

SE Thao sees eee d een eh eneeeh «eos 13

Bainbridge v. Merchants & Miners Transp. Co.,

i ee ee ebecbesenn 6 6. 19

Benz v. Compania Naviera Hidalgo, S.A., 353 U.S.

tii an dee te cekdeeateanKeehs ca 18, 24, 25

Blackmer v. United States, 284 U.S. 421 (1932)... 9, 26

Cases — Continued:

Branch v. FTC, 141 F.2d 31 (7th Cir. 1944) .......

Brunette Machine Works Lid. v. Kockum Indus.,

Inc., 406 U.S. 706 (1972) . 2... cen

Bryant v. International Schools Services, Inc.,

502 F. Supp. 472 (D.N.J. 1980), rev'd, 675 F.2d

PE MIN cs Uo Gbnccusctecccdbeuees cts

Cleary v. United States Lines, Inc., 728 F.2d 607

i i eee it waren seca eiWebeecess

CFTC v. Nahas, 738 F.2d 487 (D.C. Cir. 1984) ...

Cole v. Secretary of the Army, EEOC Dec. No.

05890142 (Aug. 23, 1989) .... 202.00 ene,

Continental Ore Co. v. Union Carbide & Carbon

Corp., 370 U.S. 690 (1962) ..................

Cunard S.S8. Co. v. Mellon, 262 U.S. 100 (1923)...

De Yoreo v. Bell Helicopter Textron, Inc., 785 F.2d

ne eatin

EEOC vy. Commercial Office Products Co., 486

ee eke eka i ceieean ens

EEOC vy. Pacific Press Publishing Ass'n, 676 F.2d

EES i ae Se

EEOC Dec. No. 85-10, Empl. Prac. Dec. (CCH)

en ee

EEOC Dec. No. 85-16, Empl. Prac. Dec. (CCH)

BR, I Rc ccc cceecuscbdecdvececs

Espinoza v. Farah Mfg. Co., 414 U.S. 86 (1973) ...

Foley Bros., Inc. v. Filardo, 336 U.S. 281 (1949) ..

3, 14

3, 9,

10, 13, 15, 17, 18, 24

FIC v. Campagnie de Saint-Gobain-Pont-a-

Mousson, 636 F.2d 1300 (D.C. Cir. 1980) ......

Hedges v. Department of Defense, EEOC Dec.

No. 05900454 (June 1, 1990)... 220.0006...

Aern v. Dynaelectron Corp., 577 t+. Supp. 1196

(N.D. Tex. 1983), aff'd, 746 F.2d 810 (Sth Cir.

SE ae Ke a ee eee beh odds didnt oea6Res

Cases — Continued: Page

Lauritzen v. Larsen, 345 U.S. 571 (1953) ......... 28, 29

Lopez v. Pan Am World Services, Inc., 813 F.2d

1118 (ith Cir. 1987) 2.2... cc ee ee. 31

Love v. Pullman Co., 13 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas.

(BNA) 423 (D. Colo. July 21, 1976), aff'd, 569

F.2d 1074 (10th Cir. 1978) .... 2.2.0... 6 ee ee ee. 14

McClure v. Salvation Army, 460 F.2d 553 (Sth

Cir.), cert. denied, 409 U.S. 896 (1972) ........ 14

McCulloch v. Sociedad Nacional de Marineros de

Honduras, 372 U.S. 10 (1963) ............. 9, 18, 24,

25, 27, 29

Murray v. The Schooner Charming Betsy, 6 U.S.

(2 Cranch) 64 (1804) . 2... cc eee es 28, 29

New York Central R.R. v. Chisholm, 268 U.S.

sn i dane a cgubestecsucssdapesdeess y

Patterson v. Bark Eudora, 190 U.S. 169 (1903) .... 9, 10

Pennsylvania v. Union Gas Co., 109 S. Ct. 2273

SE cated 6cusu sdb vesecidebassdadesoces 13

Pfeiffer v. William Wrigley Jr. Co., 755 F.2d 554

lo Fe rrrrrrrrrrr rr re ree 31

Ralis v. RFE/RL, Inc., 770 F.2d 1121 (D.C. Cir.

DDL cdeanueseb inn d68ee0sev Gis ceducdseesce 31

_ Romero v. International Terminal Operating Co.,

SE ED ctcchdccbecdecbiceseeece. 28

Sandberg v. McDonald, 248 U.S. 185 (1918) ...... 9

Schoenbaum v. Firstbrook, 405 F.2d 200, modi-

fied, 405 F.2d 215 (2d Cir. 1968), cert. denied,

395 U.S. 906 (1969) .. 0 ccc nee 9

Seville v. Martin Marietta Corp., 638 F. Supp.

SE, ED wanncdecoceccscccecccecees 14

Skiriotes v. Florida, 313 U.S. 69 (1941) .......... 9, 26

Societe Nationale Industrielle Aerospatiale v.

United States District Court, 482 U.S. 522

STE 9.0.00 secbs tovadeedbscececenseesesesss 21

Steele v. Bulova Watch Co., 344 U.S. 280 (1952)... 9, 10,

12, 24

Vil

Cases — Continued:

Stewart v. Pacific Steam Navigation Co., 3 F.2d

IID o's Suibcsccecddcctessccce

Sumitomo Shoji America, Inc. v. Avagliano, 457

itn cecidc pudbdnetdestdee¥sée

Tamari v. Bache & Co. (Lebanon) §.A.L., 730

F.2d 1103 (7th Cir.), cert. denied, 469 U.S. 871

REESE Se ene ea a a

Thomas v. Brown & Root, Inc., 745 F.2d 279 (4th

Lh ie cine nes nan s ys ounaadinnbess

United States v. Aluminum Co. of America, 148

F.2d 416 (2d Cir. 1945) ......................

United States v. Bowman, 260 U.S. 94 (1922) .....

United States v. Flores, 289 U.S. 137 (1933) ......

United States v. Palmer, 16 U.S. (3 Wheat.) 610

Tt 640k bleushbeatinelias cadhaedae ets»

United States v. Rodgers, 150 U.S. 249 (1893) ....

Vermilya-Brown Co. v. Conneil, 335 U.S. 377

EI Ge eet pe ae

Weinberger v. Rossi, 456 U.S. 25 (1982) .........

Yellow Freight System, Inc. v. Donnelly, 110

es a 6 kde une nueune

Zahourek v. Arthur Young & Co., 750 F.2d 827

I ne ce

Constitution, statutes and rule:

U.S. Const:

IR a ek al

Act of Sept. 28, 1971, Pub. L. No. 92-129, Tit. 1,

i a

EE Shhh seeeRneinutauhs inendenedentce<

Civil Rights Act of 1964, Pub. L. No. 88-352,

Tit. Vil, 78 Stat. 253, 42 U.S.C. 2000e ef seg. ...

§ 701(b), 422 U.S.C. 2000e(b) 2

§ 701(g), 42 U.S.C. 2000e(g) ...... 2.2.22...

Page

Vill

Statutes and rule — Continued: Page

§ 701(h), 42 U.S.C. 2000e(h) ..........-..-. 11

§ 702, 42 U.S.C. 2000e-1 (78 Stat. 255) ..... 3, 6, 12

§ 703, 42 U.S.C. 2000e-2 ............... 11, 14, 27

§ 703(a), 42 U.S.C. 2000e-2(a) ............. 11

§ 704, 42 U.S.C. 2000e-3 ........ 2.2.6.6... 11

§ 706(a), 42 U.S.C. 2000e-S(a) ............. 21

§ 706(b), 42 U.S.C. 2000e-S(b) ..... 2.2.6... 21

§ 706(b)-(d), 42 U.S.C. 2000e-5(b) to

ci dd eens Ceebepas sce 30

§ 706(f), 42 U.S.C. 2000e-S(f) ... 2... eee 21

§ 706(f(1), 42 U.S.C. 2000e-S(I1) ......... 3

§ 706(f)(3), 42 U.S.C. 2000e-S(f(3) ......... 18

§ 708, 42 U.S.C. 2000e-7 ... 2... eee. w

§ 709, 42 U.S.C. 2000e-8 ...... 2... 2 e ee. 21

§ 70%(b), 42 U.S.C. 2000e-8(b) ............. 30

§ 710, 42 U.S.C. 2000e-9 .................. 20, 22

§ 710(a), 42 U.S.C. 2000e-9(a) (78 Stat. 264) . . 20

§ 717, 42 U.S.C. 2000e-16 .... 2... 2. ee eee 23

Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act, 43 U.S.C. 1331

CEG, Cacebcxnscdvcccécocesctivnvesscocnce 8

st ot. ces edewseeuede 22

EE EO ee en ry 21

nen. uk d peeeddetthwedeheen 20, 22

EE ee ee se cecenwheoane 19

REE SE ere 32

i es ol en eben 21

Miscellaneous:

Age Discrimination and Overseas Americans,

1983: Hearing Before the Subcomm. on Aging

of the Senate Comm. on Labor and Human

Resources, 98th Cong., Ist Sess. (1983) ........ 23, 31

Miscellaneous — Continued: Page

Civil Rights: Hearings Before Subcomm. No. 5

of the House Comm. on the Judiciary on Mis-

cellaneous Proposals Regarding the Civil Rights

of Persons Within the Jurisdiction of the United

States, 88th Cong., Ist Sess. (1963) ............ 16

129 Cong. Rec. 34,499 (1983) .................. 31

Discriminatory Arab Pressure on U.S. Business:

Hearings Before the Subcomm. on International

Trade and Commerce of the House Comm. on

International Relations, 94th Cong., Ist Sess.

PRESS te ASE a a ae 24

Discriminatory Overseas Assignment Policies of

Federal Agencies: Hearings Before a Subcomm.

of the House Comm. on Government Opera-

tions, 94th Cong. Ist & 2d Sess. (1975-1976) .. . . 24

Foreign Investment and Arab Boycott Legislation:

Hearings Before the Subcomm. on International

Finance of the Senate Comm. on Banking,

Housing and Urban Affairs, 94th Cong., Ist

tak te eee reeked edéwacceece 24

H.R. 4453, 81st Cong., Ist Sess. (1949) .......... 17, 18

H.R. 405, 88th Cong., Ist Sess. (1963) ........... 16, 29

H.R. 7152, 88th Cong., Ist Sess. (1963) .......... 16

H.R. Rep. No. 570, 88th Cong., Ist Sess. (1963) .. 16, 25

H.R. Rep. No. 914, 88th Cong., Ist Sess. (1963) _. 16

Note, Equal Employment Opportunity fo Ameri-

cans Abroad, 62 N.Y .U. L. Rev. 1288 (1987) _.. 26

Policy Statement No. N-915.033, EEOC Compl.

Man. (BNA), at 605-0055 (Sept. 2, 1988) _... 23, 28, 29

Restatement (Third) of the Foreign Relations Law

of the United States (1986) .......... 2.2.2... 26, 27

Miscellaneous — Continued: Page

S. 1937, 88th Cong., Ist Sess. (1964) ............ 16

S. Rep. No. 867, 88th Cong., 2d Sess. (1964) .._.. 16

Steinhardt, The Role of International Law As a

Canon of Domestic Statutory Construction, 43

Vand. L. Rev. 1003 (9900) ................... 29

In the Supreme Court of the Gnited States

OCTOBER TERM, 1990

No. 89-1838

EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY

COMMISSION, PETITIONER

ARABIAN AMERICAN OIL CO., ET AL.

No. 89-1845

AL! BOURESLAN, PETITIONER

Vv.

ARABIAN AMERICAN OIL CO., ET AL.

ON WRITS OF CERTIORARI

TO THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT

BRIEF FOR THE

EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY COMMISSION

The panel and en banc opinions of the court of appeals (Pet.

App. la-76a)' are reported, respectively, at 857 F.2d 1014 and

892 F.2d 1271. The opinion of the district court (Pet. App.

77a-82a) is reported at 653 F. Supp. 629.

JURISDICTION

The judgment of the court of appeals upon rehearing en banc

was entered on February 2, 1990. On April 24, 1990, Justice

' “Pet. App.” refers to the appendix to the petition in No. 89-1838.

(1)

White extended the time for filing a petition for a writ of cer-

tiorari to and including May 23, 1990. The petitions for writs of

certiorari were filed on May 23, 1990, and were granted on Oc-

tober 1, 1990. This Court has jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C.

1254(1).

STATUTORY PROVISIONS INVOLVED

The relevant provisions of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of

1964, 42 U.S.C. 2000e ef seqg., are set forth at Pet. App.

86a-88a.

STATEMENT

1. Ali Boureslan, the plaintiff in this Title VII action, is a

naturalized American citizen. The defendants are two Delaware

corporations, Arabian American Oil Company (Aramco) and

Aramco Services Company (ASC). During the period relevant

to this case, Aramco explored for, produced, and refined oil

and gas in Saudi Arabia. All of Aramco’s shares were owned by

Texaco, Exxon, Mobil, and Chevron, or their subsidiaries.

Aramco’s principal place of business was Dhahran, Saudi

Arabia, but it was licensed to do business in Texas. ASC was a

wholly owned subsidiary of Aramco; its principal place of

business was Houston, Texas. J.A. 21, 24, 41; see Br. in Opp.

App. la.

In 1979, Boureslan was hired by ASC to work as an engineer

in Houston. A year later, Boureslan’s request for a transfer to

Aramco was granted, and he relocated to Saudi Arabia. In that

country, Boureslan alleges, his supervisor systematically mis-

treated him because of his national origin, religion, and race,

and respondents sought to create a record that would justify his

termination. On June 16, 1984, Boureslan was discharged. His

complaint alleges that the stated grounds for the termination

were pretextual and that he was actually discharged because of

his national origin, race, and religion. J.A. 7-10, 31-36.

2. After filing a charge of discrimination against Aramco

with the EEOC and receiving a right to sue letter, Boureslan

commenced this action against Aramco and ASC. His .mended

complaint seeks relief under Title VII and also asserts pendent

state law claims. J.A. 9-10. Aramco moved to dismiss the com-

plaint for lack of subject matter jurisdiction, arguing that Title

VII does not apply to discrimination outside the United States.

J.A. 11-12. The district court agreed with that contention and

dismissed the Title VII claims against both defendants. Pet.

App. 77a-82a. The court also dismissed Boureslan’s state law

claims for lack of pendent jurisdiction and entered final judg-

ment in favor of both Aramco and ASC. See id. at 82a; J.A. 44.

3. A divided panel of the court of appeals affirmed. Pet.

App. 28a-82a. The court then granted rehearing en banc; upon

rehearing, the court affirmed the district court's judgment by a

9-5 vote. Id. at la-27a.’

a. The en banc majority held that Title VII does not apply

to discrimination outside the United States. In reaching that

conclusion, it relied on the “canon of construction * * * that

legislation of Congress, unless a contrary intent appears, is

meant to apply only within the territorial jurisdiction of the

United States.” Pet. App. 3a (quoting Foley Bros. Inc. v.

Filardo, 3% U.S. 281, 285 (1949)). Title VI1, the majority con-

cluded, “does not reflect the necessary clear expression of con-

gressional intent to extend its reach beyond our borders.” Pet.

App. 7a.

The majority dismissed the contention that the statute's “alien

exemption” — which provides that Tithe VII “shall not apply to

an employer with respect to employment of aliens outside any

State,” 42 U.S.C. 2000e-1 — demonstrates that Title VII was de-

signed to apply to discrimination against American citizens out-

side the United States. Citing Espinoza v. Farah Mfe. Co., 414

U.S. 86, 95 (1973), the majority ruled that the alien exemption

reflects “a congressional intent to provide Title VII coverage to

In the court of appeals, the EEOC particypated as an amicus curtae before

the panel. After entry of the panel's decision, the Commision was granted

leave to mmtervene for the purpose of seeking further review and participated ay

a party m the rehearing en banc. Pet. App. 8Sa. See 42 U.S.C. 2000e- SIMI)

(authorizing court, i its discretion, to permit the Commission to mtervene im

a cnd acthen upon the Commeesion’s certification that the cave of general

publ mmportance)

aliens employed within the United States.” Pet. App. 4a. Thus,

it reasoned, the provision would remain a “meaningful and

useful part of the Act” even if Tithe VII were interpreted not to

apply to discriminatory conduct abroad. /bid.

The majority found additional support for its interpretation

in what it characterized as the “domestic focus” of the Act and

in Title VII's “repeated references” to the “United States”,

“states” and “state proceedings.” Pet. App. Sa. Because Title

Vil “accommodate[s} state employment discrimination pro-

ceedings,” the majority continued, “[i}f Congress had intended

the Act to apply in foreign countries,” it would “have been even

more careful to address conflicts with foreign discrimination

laws.” Ibid. The majority also found the Act to be “curiously

silent” on issues raised by extraterritorial application of Title

Vil, saying that Title VII “fails to address venue problems that

arise with foreign violations” and that the EEOC’s “in-

vestigatory powers are limited to evidence obtained in the

United States and its territories.” /bid.

If the Act were applied extraterritorially, the majority con-

tinued, its plain language would reach foreign employers of

American citizens. The majority expressed doubt “that Con-

gress ever intended to impose Title VII on a foreign employer

who had the grace to employ an American citizen in its own

country.” Pet. App. 6a. Finally, the court contrasted Tithe VII

with other statutes having undoubted extraterritorial effect — in

particular, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, 29

U.S.C. 630(f). In those other statutes, the majority observed,

“Congress demonstrated * * * its awareness of the need to make

a clear statement of extraterritorial application, address the con-

cerns of conflicting foreign law, and provide the usual nuts-and-

bolts provisions for enforcing those rights.” /bid.

b. Five members of the court dissented. The dissenting

opimon concluded that “a fair and reasonable reading” of Title

Vil “compels the conclusion that Congress did, in fact, intend

Title VII's broad remedial goals to encompass, and eradicate, an

American employer's discriminatory employment practices

against a United States citizen, even if the acts constituting such

discrimination were carried out on foreign soil.” Pet. App. 7a.

The alien exemption, the dissent explained, provides a clear ex-

pression of Congress's intent to apply the statute extrater-

ritorially; “{i}f Congress had not envisioned an extraterritorial

application of Title VII, a specific provision exempting only

aliens from such coverage would not have been needed.” /d. at

9a. The dissent found further support for its interpretation of

Title Vil in the alien exemption’s legislative history and in the

EEOC’s interpretation of the statute. /d. at 12a-i6a & nn.3-7.

SUMMARY OF ARGUMENT

Like Ali Boureslan, many Americans spend a portion of their

careers working outside the United States for American

employers. Foreign assignments provide employees with

valuable experience and are essential for advancement in many

firms. The question presented by this case is whether Title VII

provides Americans with protection from discrimination on the

basis of race, sex, national origin, and religion while they are

employed by American employers abroad.

1. There is no doubt that Congress has constitutional

authority to prohibit such discrimination. In determining

whether Congress has exercised that authority here, it is ap-

propriate to refer to the canon of construction that, unless a

contrary intent appears, legislation is interpreted to apply only

within the territorial limits of the United States. Titlh VII

satisfies the requirement imposed by this presumption; the

language of the statute clearly manifests Congress's intention to

prohibit employment discrimination abroad by American

employers against American citizens.

A. By its terms, Tithe VII reaches discrimination agaist

Americans employed abroad. The Act prohibits discriminatory

employment practices by “an employer” —a defined term in-

cluding all firms that employ a specified number of employees

and are engaged in an industry affecting commerce. The

statutory definition provides no exclusion for employers con-

ducting operations abroad, and the term “commerce” is defined

to include foreign commerce. Accordingly, American corpora-

trons that employ American citizens abroad are among the

employers subject to the Act.

B. Section 702 of the Act, 42 U.S.C. 2000e-1, provides that

Tule Vil does not apply to “the employment of aliens outside

any State.” This exemption demonstrates that Congress in-

tended to protect American citizens from employment

discrumination abroad. Congress could not rationally have

enacted an exemption for alens (bul not citizens) with respect to

employment abroad while at the same time believing that Title

Vil could not apply extraterritorially in the first place. The

court of appeals’ surmise that Congress enacted the alién exemp-

tron m order to confer coverage on aliens employed within the

United States ts untenable. Indeed, the legislative history of the

alen exemption confirms that its purpose was to limit the poten-

tial for conflicts with foreign law by withdrawing coverage from

ahens abroad.

C. No provision of Title VII is inconsistent with its applica-

thon to the employment of American citizens by American

employers abroad. Contrary to the court of appeals’ suggestion,

Tule Vil does not create a venue gap for cases arising from

discrumination abroad. And even if such a gap existed, u would

reflect at most a decision to lima plaintiffs’ choice of forum, not

an imtention to withdraw all protection from Americans

employed abroad. Similarly, the statute’s limitation on the

scope of the EEOC's subpoena power does not suggest a limn

on the statute’s substantive provisions. The remainder of the

EEOC'S authorny and the rights conferred on private plaintiffs

embody no geographical mutation. As other statutes contaim-

mg virtually wdentical subpoena provisions reflect, there is no

necessary relationship between an agency's subpoena power and

the scope of the statute « admenssters.

D. The EEOC, the agency charged with principal respon-

sibility tor admunistecring Title VIL, has interpreted the statute to

apply extraterrnonally. The Justice Department, which abso has

responsibilities in thr area, has reached the same conclusion.

These consistent constructions of the statute by the responsible

agencies confirm that Congress’s intent was to apply Title VII to

Americans employed by American employers abroad.

Il. Concern for potential conflicts between Title ‘!: and the

laws of foreign states, on which the court of appeals placed

great emphasis, does not justify restricting the statute to

discrimination within the United States.

A. Congress has spoken to the possibility that Title VII may

conflict with foreign law. The exemption for the employment of

aliens outside the United States embodies the balance that Con-

gress struck between the goals of eradicating employment

discrimination and avoiding conflicts with foreign laws. The

courts are not at liberty to restrike that balance.

B. Applied to discrimination by American corporations

against American citizens, Title VII does not raise a serious

prospect of irreconcilable conflicts with foreign laws. Interna-

tional law recognizes a state’s right generally to prescribe legal

rules for its nationals outside the state’s boundaries. Title VII

provides potential defenses to employers that are compelled by

the law of the territorial sovereign to engage in conduct that

would otherwise be prohibited by Title VII. Application of Title

VII to cases such as this does not infringe upon the sovereignty

of foreign states.

C. In providing for limited deference to state fair employ-

ment proceedings but not to foreign procedures, Title VII does

not suggest that Congress intended to limit Title VII to

discrimination within the United States. Congress’s decision not

to require reference of charges of discrimination to unfamiliar

foreign proceedings scarcely suggests that it turned a blind eye

to employment discrimination by American employers against

American citizens abroad. Indeed, because Title VII supersedes

all inconsistent state law, it is even less tolerant of conflicts with

state law than it is of conflicts with foreign law. The statutory

provisions accommodating state fair employment laws provide

no basis for doubt as to Congress’s intention to prohibit

discrimination abroad.

D. In 1984, Congress amended the Age Discrimination in

Employment Act to make clear its intention to prohibit age

discrimination against Americans employed abroad. Contrary

to the court of appeals’ suggestion, those amendments do not

reflect an intention to distinguish between age discrimination

and discrimination based on race, sex, national origin, or

religion. Indeed, it would be anomalous to construe Title VII to

provide Americans abroad with less protection from discrimina-

tion based on race, sex, national origin, or religion than from

discrimination based on age. In fact, the legislative history of

the ADEA amendments reflects that Congress believed that it

was bringing the ADEA into line with Title VII and providing

Americans working abroad with substantially the same protec-

tion from all forms of discrimination. Construing Title VII to

be inapplicable abroad would resurrect (in reverse) the anomaly

that the 1984 Congress acted to eliminate.

ARGUMENT

1. TITLE Vil MANIFESTS A CLEAR CONGRESSIONAL IN-

TENTION TO PROHIBIT DISCRIMINATION OUTSIDE

THE UNITED STATES BY AMERICAN EMPLOYERS

AGAINST AMERICAN CITIZENS

The issue in this case — whether Title VII protects American

citizens against invidious employment discrimination by

American corporations outside of the United States'—is ex-

clusively one of statutory interpretation. Congress’s power to

legislate under the Commerce Clause, the primary source of

constitutional authority for Title VII, is not confined to the ter-

ritorial limits of the United States. As long as it acts within its

enumerated powers, Congress can “regulate the actions of our

citizens Outside the territorial jurisdiction of the United States

’ For purposes of Tithe VII, “the term ‘State’ includes a State of the United

States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, American

Samoa, Guam, Wake Island, the Canal Zone, and Outer Continental Shell

lands defined in the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act [43 U.S.C. 1331 e

seq.|.” This briefs references to the “United States” encompass all territory

within the confines of these “States.”

whether or not the act punished occurred within the territory of

a foreign nation.” Vermilya-Brown Co. v. Connell, 335 U.S.

377, 381 (1948).*

In determining whether Congress has exercised its authority

to regulate extraterritorially, this Court has employed a canon

of construction “that legislation of Congress, unless a contrary

intent appears, is meant to apply only within the territorial

jurisdiction of the United States.” Foley Bros., Inc. v. Filardo,

336 U.S. 281, 285 (1949).° That canon “is based on the assump-

tion that Congress is primarily concerned with domestic condi-

tions” (ibid.); it also serves to protect against needless conflicts

between our laws and those of other states, cf. McCulloch v.

Sociedad Nacional de Marineros de Honduras, 372 U.S. 10,

21-22 (1963). The ultimate issue, however, remains one of

legislative intent.

* Accord Blackmer \. United States, 284 U.S. 421, 437 (1932); Patterson v.

Bark Eudora, 190 U.S. 169, 178-179 (1903); Skiriotes v. Florida, 313 U.S. 69,

73 (1941); Folew Bros., Inc. v. Filardo, 336 U.S. 281, 284-285 (1949); Steele v.

Bulova Watch Co., 344 U.S. 280, 282, 285-286 (1952); McCulloch v. Sociedad

Nacional de Marineros de Honduras, 372 U.S. 10, 17 (1963).

> See also American Banana Co. v. United Fruit Co., 213 U.S. 347, 357

(1909); Sandbere v. McDonald, 248 U.S. 185, 195 (1918); United States v.

Bowman, 260 U.S. 94, 98 (1922); New York Central R.R. \. Chisholm, 268

U.S. 29, 34-32 (1925); Blackmer v. United States, 284 U.S. 421, 437 (1932);

Unued States \. Flores, 289 U.S. 137, 185 (1933); Steele v. Bulova Watch Co.,

344 U.S. 280, 285 (1952); Argentine Republic \. Amerada Hess Shipping Co.,

109 S. Ct. 683, 691 (1989). The Court has retreated somewhat from the strict

concept of territoriality advanced in American Banana. See Steele \. Bulova

Match Co., 344.U.S. at 288; Continental Ore Co. v. Union Carbide & Carbon

Corp., 370 U.S. 690, 704 (1962).

in other contests, the Court has indicated that a different form of analysis

may apply. See United States \. Bowman, 260 U.S. at 98 (presumption against

e\traterritoriality is not applicable to statutes designed to protect the United

States government from fraud, because those statutes “are not logically de-

pendent on thei locality for the Government's jurisdiction”). See also Tamar

\. Bache & Co. (Lebanon) §.A.L., 790 F.2d 1103, 1107 woth Oth Cir), cert.

denied, 469 U.S. 871 (1984); Schoenbaum v. Firsthrook, 405 F.2d 200, 206 (2d

Cir.), modified on other grounds, 405 F.2d 215 (1968), cert. denied, 395 U.S.

906 (1969). In this case, the Court need not determine the outer perimeter of

the presumption agaimst extraterritoniality of the scope of any exceptions to

the presumption that may exist.

To rebut the presumption against extraterritoriality, Congress

need not express its intent to regulate outside the United States

in any particular way. At the most obvious level, a stai..te may

explicitly be made applicable to foreign parties. See Patterson v.

Bark Eudora, 190 U.S. 169, 173 (1903). So too, broad jurisdic-

tional language suffices to sustain extraterritorial applications

of federal statutes that prevent evasion of “the thrust of the laws

of the United States in a privileged sanctuary beyond our

borders.” Steele v. Bulova Watch Co., 344 U.S. 280, 287 (1952).

Other possibilities exist as well. In determining whether a statute

reaches conduct abroad, courts may appropriately consult all

materials customarily employed in statutory interpretation. See

Foley Bros., 336 U.S. at 285-291 (referring to the language of

the statute at issue, its legislative history and “scheme”, and ad-

ministrative interpretations).

Interpreted in accordance with these principles, Title VII ap-

plies to discrimination outside the United States by an American

employer against an American citizen. On its face, the statute

prohibits discrimination by an employer engaged in an industry

affecting interstate or foreign commerce, without regard to

where the discrimination occurs. Understanding that the statute

would apply to discrimination beyond the Nation’s borders,

Congress added an exemption withdrawing protection from

aliens with respect to employment outside the United States.

Congress must have understood that — were it not for the ex-

press exemption — Title VII wou/d apply to aliens employed by

American employers outside the United States. The exemption

powerfully demonstrates that Congress intended Title VII to ap-

ply to the employment of American citizens outside this coun-

try. Nothing in Title VII supports a different interpretation.

Finally, both the EEOC and the Justice Department, the agen-

cies charged by Congress with enforcing Tithe Vil, have con-

sistently construed Title VII to apply to discrimination against

American citizens abroad.

A. By Its Terms, Title VII Prohibits Invidious Employment

Discrimination Against American Citizens Outside the United

States

Title VII prohibits various discriminatory employment prac-

tices. 42 U.S.C. 2000e-2, 2000e-3. It is an “unlawful employ-

ment practice” for “an employer” (42 U.S.C. 2000e-2(a))

(1) to fail or refuse to hire or to discharge any in-

dividual, or otherwise to discriminate against any in-

dividual with respect to his compensation, terms, condi-

tions, or privileges of employment, because of such in-

dividual’s race, color, religion, sex, or national origin; or

(2) to limit, segregate, or classify his employees or ap-

plicants for employment in any way which would deprive

or tend to deprive any individual of employment oppor-

tunities or otherwise adversely affect his status as an

employee, because of such individual’s race, color,

religion, sex, or national origin.

In general, the applicability of this provision to alleged

employment discrimination is dependent upon whether the

employer satisfies the statutory definition of “an employer,” 42

U.S.C. 2000e(b). An employer is subject to Title VII if it has

employed 15 or more employees for a specified period and is

“engaged in an industry affecting commerce.” /bid. An industry

affecting commerce is “any activity, business, or industry in

commerce or in which a labor dispute would hinder or obstruct

commerce and includes any activity or industry ‘affecting com-

merce’ within the meaning of the Labor-Management Reporting

and Disclosure Act of 1959 [29 U.S.C. 401 ef seqg.|.” 42 U.S.C.

2000e(h). Commerce, in turn, is defined as “trade, traffic, com-

merce, transportation, transmission, Or communication among

the several States; or between a State and any place outside

thereot; or within the District of Columbia, or a possession of

the United States; or between points in the same State but

through a point outside thereof.” 42 U.S.C. 2000e(g).°

* Respondents have not contended that they lack the requisite number of

cmployees Of are not engaged in “an industry allecting commerce”.

By their terms, these provisions reach employment

discrimination occurring outside the United States. The statute's

prohibition on “unlawful employment practices” is not limited

to discriminatory practices occurring at any particular place,

and the definition of employer includes both interstate and

foreign commerce. Nothing in the statute makes the protection

available to American citizens who are “individualls},”

“employees,” or “applicants for employment” dependent on

where they may be located when they are victimized by

discrimination. In this respect, Title VII's jurisdictional provi-

sions are similar to the “broad jurisdictional grant in the

Lanham Act” upon which this Court relied in holding the

trademark statute applicable to conduct outside this country.

Steele v. Bulova Watch Co., 344 U.S. at 286. See also Branch v.

FTC, 141 F.2d 31, 34-35 (th Cir. 1944).

B. Tithe Vil's Exemption for Aliens With Respect to Employment

Outside the United States Clearly Manifests An Intention to

Protect American Citizens With Respect to Employ meat Out-

side the United States

1. In determining whether Title VII applies to discrimina-

tion by U.S. employers outside the United States, iu is un-

necessary to rely exclusively on the statute’s broad jurisdictional

provisions, for the “alien exemption” provision powerfully

demonstrates Congress’s intent to apply Title VII extrater-

ritorially. That exemption is found in Section 702 of Title VI,

42 U.S.C. 2000e-1, which provides that the statute “shall not ap-

ply to an employer with respect to the employment of aliens out-

side any State.” Against the background of Title VII's jurisdic-

tional provisions, the thrust of this exemption is unmistakable.

Congress understood that Title VII would apply to discrimina-

tion outside the United States, but chose not to confer protec-

tion on aliens outside this country. Accordingly, it fashioned an

exemption for that group, limiting the statute’s extraterritorial

application to the employment of American citizens outside any

State.

No other plausible explanation of the alien exemption exists.

If Congress believed that the statute did not apply extra-

terriorially, it would have had no reason to include an exemp-

tion for a certain category of individuals employed outside the

United States. Alternatively, if Congress believed that the

statute would (or might) be interpreted to apply overseas but

wished to withhold protection from both Americans and aliens

employed abroad, the only sensible way to express that inten-

tion would have been to include an exemption encompassing the

employment of all individuals abroad. The statute’s jurisdic-

tional provisions cannot possibly be read to confer coverage

only upon aliens employed outside the United States. Thus,

Congress could not rationally have enacted an exemption for

the employment of aliens abroad if it intended to foreclose ail

potential extraterritorial applications of the statute.

In this respect, this case is similar to Pennsylvania v. Union

Gas Co., 109 S. Ct. 2273 (1990). In Union Gas, the Court noted

that a provision exempting States from certain liability for

hazardous waste cleanup manifested Congress's intention that

States would be liable for cleanup costs beyond the scope of the

exemption. The Court explained that the exemption “is,

needless to say, an explicit recognition of the potential liability

of States under this statute; Congress need not exempt States

from liability unless they would otherwise be liable.” Jd. at

2278. The same inference should be drawn from the alien ex-

emption in this case.’

’ The Eleventh Amendment imposes a more stringent clear statement re-

qgurement than the presumption agamst evtraterrtonality, Congress may

abrogate the States’ Eleventh Amendment ummunnty “only by making its in-

tention unmetakably clear in the language of the statute.” Atascadero Siete

Hosp... Scanton, 473 US. 234, 242 (1985). Compare Foley Bros., 336 U.S. at

285 (presumption agamst extraterrtoriality ts “a vahd approach whereby unex-

pressed congressional intent may be ascertained”). Thus, the reasoning of

Umon Gas applies @ fortior: to this case. See also Andrus v. Glover Constr.

Co, 446 US. 608, 616-617 (1989) (“Where Congress explicitly enumerates cer-

Lam c\ceptions to a general prohibition, additional exceptions are not 40 be

unphed, m the absence of evidence of a contrary legnlatwe mtent.”).

Tule VEL abo Contam, an exemption for rehgious mstitutions “with respect

to the employ ment of undinviduals of a particular rehgiwn to perform work con-

nected wath” the mstitutions’ “relhgiows activities.” This exemption — bike the

ahen exemption as we construe a — clearly wahdraws, coverage that would

2. With the exception of this case, all judicial decisions ad-

dressing the territorial scope of Title VII have concluded that

the alien exemption reflects an intention to provide American

citizens with protection from employment discrimination

abroad.* The court of appeals, however, ruled that the exemp-

tion could plausibly be read as a means of “provid{ing] Title VII

coverage to aliens employed within the United States,” and sug-

gested that the “negative inference” arising from the exemption

was (oo insubstantial to sustain an extraterritorial application of

the statute. Pet. App. 4a, 7a. This line of reasoning is strained

and untenable. lt req ©s an exemption to be read as a

backhanded grant of coverage; what is more, the court's inter-

pretive gymnastics embody a fundamental mis onception of the

principles of statutory interpretation that govern the extrater-

ritorial application of statutes.

a. Whatever its implications may be, the alien exemption’s

office is not to confer statutory protection oh aliens inside the

United States. The plain language of another provision does

that. As this Court noted in Espinoza, 414 U.S. at 95, aliens in

this country are entitled to protection because they are among

the “individuals” referred to in Section 703 of Title VII, 42

U.S.C. 2000e-2. If Congress had entertained any doubt as to

whether Section 703 was sufficient to protect resident aliens, the

only rational way to erase that uncertainty would have been to

include a provision specifically conferring coverage on those in-

dividuals. The roundabout tactic of carving out an exemption

otherene exit. Further, courts have rejected claims comparable to

respondents’ here, that Title VII should be construed to allow dixcrummation

by rehgious mstntutions that ts outside the scope of the exemption See Mc

Clure +. Salvation Army, 460 & 2d 553, 558 (Sth Cur), cont. demed, 49 US

896 (1972), EEOC». Pacific Press Publishing Ass'n, 676 1 2d 1272, 1276-1277

(Hh Cir. 1982).

* Aheun». Boeing Co., No. CR-ANID (WD. Wash. June 7, 1990), Seville

v. Marun Marietta Corp., 6481. Sapp. 990 (0D. Mid. 1986), Brvant +. Interna

tional Schools Services, Inc., S2U. Supp. 472 (DN J. 1980), res'd on other

erounds, 675 F.2d 562 (3d Cir, 1982), Lowe ¥. Pullman Co., 13 baw Empl

Prac, Cas. (BNA) 423, 426 0 4 «D. Coto July 2, 1976), aff d on other

grounds, 569 F 2d 1074 (10th Cur 1978)

from coverage for a different class would not have had the

strangely generative effect of creating coverage that did not

otherwise exist.

As this Court noted in Espinoza v. Farah Mfg. Co., supra,

the alien exemption does confirm Congress's intention to pro-

vide protection to aliens within the United States. If the statute

could never apply to discrimination against aliens, it would have

been unnecessary to exempt aliens with respect to their employ-

memt outside this country. It does not follow, however, that the

exemption can plausibly be viewed as “meaningful and useful”

(Pet. App. 4a) only to the extent it bears on aliens in this coun-

try.

To the contrary, the inferences that the exemption supports

with respect to the employment of aliens’ within the United

Staes and the employment of citizens abroad are inseparable

and equally compelling. By withdrawing protection from aliens

with respect to their employment outside the United States, the

exemption establishes that two groups falling outside the ex-

emption — in Espinoza, aliens employed inside the United States

and, here, citizens employed abroad — are covered. Those in-

ferences are in no sense alternatives to one another. Both flow

equally from the alien exemption.

b. The court of appeals’ suggestion that a “negative in-

ference” is insufficient to support a statute’s extraterritorial ap-

plication misconceives the nature of the presumption against ex-

traterrmorialny. The presumption is an “approach whereby

unexpressed congressional intent may be ascertained,” Foley

Bros., 336 U.S. at 285, not a requirement of form. Tithe VII

combines a broad grant of protection from discrimination with

an exemption for the employment of aliens abroad. That com-

bination is an entirely natural way to express an intention to

confer coverage on Americans employed abroad. The presump-

(ton against extraterrnoriality demands nothing more.

3. The legislative history of the alien exemption confirms

that its function was to withdraw coverage ‘rom aliens abroad

(not, as the court of appeals suggested, to extend coverage to

aliens in this country). in the 88th Congress, the alien exemption

was initially included in H.R. 405, 88th Cong., Ist Sess. (1963).

The committee report on this bill stated that the purpose of the

exemption was “to remove conflicts of law which might other-

wise exist between the United States and a foreign nation in the

employment of aliens outside the United States by an American

enterprise.” H.R. Rep. No. 570, 88th Cong., Ist Sess. 4 (1963).°

This explanation demonstrates that the exemption’s function

was what its form suggests —to withdraw coverage from aliens

with respect to their employment abroad. The potential “con-

flicts of law’ to which the report referred could only arise out-

side the United States; in stating that the exemption was design-

ed to “remove” those potential conflicts, the report manifested

the committee’s understanding that Title VII would otherwise

apply outside the United States.

The committee report on the Senate's employment discrimi-

nation bill, S. 1937, 88th Cong., Ist Sess. (1964), included a very

similar explanation of the alien exemption: “Exempted from the

bill are * * * U.S. employers employing citizens of foreign

countries in foreign lands.” S. Rep. No. 867, 88th Cong., 2d

Sess. 11 (1964). Like its House counterpart, the Senate report

made clear that the exemption’s purpose was to limit the ex-

traterritorial application of the statute in “foreign lands,” not to

extend coverage to aliens in this country. If there were any

—

* After H.R. 405 was reported to the Moor of the House, the House Com

mittee on the Judiciary held hearings on a number of civil rights bills, in-

cluding H.R. 405. The committee report on H.R. 405 was incorporated in the

record of those hearings See Civil Rights. Hearings Before Subcomm No §

of the House Comm on the Judwiary on Miscellaneous Proposals Regarding

the Civil Rights of Persons Within the Jurwdiwtion of the Unied States, 86h

Cong., Ist Sess. 2303 (1963). The upshot of the hearings was an omnibus civil

rights bill, H.R. 7152, 88th Cong , Ist Sess. (1963). H.R. 405 was incorporated

(with amendments not touching the alien exemption) into HR 7152, which in

turn was subsequently enacted as the Civil Rights Act of 1964 See HR Rep

No. 914, 88th Cong., Ist Sess. 57 (1963) (additional views of Rep. Meader)

doubt as to the untenability of the court of appeals’ understand-_

ing, the provision’s legislative history would lay it to rest.

4. The alien exemption distinguishes Title VII from other

statutes that this Court has held do not apply outside the United

States. For instance, in Foley Bros. v. Filardo, supra, the Court

relied very heavily on the fact that the Eight Hour Law—a

statute obligating government contractors to pay overtime to

employees who worked more than eight hours in a given

day — drew “no distinction * * * between Americans and foreign

laborers.” 336 U.S. at 286. The Court continued (ibid. (em-

phasis added)):

Unless we are to read such a distinction into the statute we

should be forced to conclude, under respondents’ reason.

ing, that Congress intended to regulate the working hours

of a citizen of Iran who chanced to be employed on a

public work of the United States in that foreign land. Such

a conclusion would be logically inescapable although labor

conditions in Iran were known to be wholly dissimilar to

those in the United States and wholly beyond the control

of this nation. An intention so to regulate labor conditions

which are the primary concern of a foreign country should

not be attributed to Congress in the absence of a clearly ex-

pressed purpose. * * * The absence of any distinction be-

tween citizen and alien labor indicates to us that the statute

was intended to apply only to those places where the labor

conditions of both citizen and alien employees are a prob-

able concern of Congress.

By its terms, Tithe VII draws the very distinction whose absence

this Court stressed in Foley Bros. In so doing, Tithe Vil

manifests Congress's intention to prohibit discrimination by

American employers against American citizens abroad.

Indeed, the alien exemption first appeared in proposed fair

employment legislation shortly after the decision in Foley Bros.

suggesting that it was conceived as a response to that decision.

The decision in Foley Bros. was issued on March 7, 1949. Six

weeks later, on April 29, 1949, Rep. Adam Clayton Powell in-

troduced a fair employment vill, H.R. 4453, 8ist Cong., Ist

—— eT

Sess. (1949), that was apparently the first to include an alien ex-

emption. Evidently, this bill was designed to avoid the problem

created by the Eight Hour Law's failure to distinguish between

Americans and aliens abroad.

Benz v. Compania Naviera Hidalgo, S.A., 353 U.S. 138

(1957), and McCulloch v. Sociedad Nacional de Marineros de

Honduras, supra, involved attempts to apply American labor

statutes to aliens employed aboard foreign flag vessels, which

are analogous to foreign terrtiory'® — a point that was stressed in

both cases. In Benz, the Court concluded that “Congress did not

fashion [the LMRDA] to resolve labor disputes between na-

tionals of other countries operating ships under foreign laws.”

353 U.S. at 143. Similarly, in McCulloch, the Court framed the

“basic” question as “whether [the NLRA] as written was in-

tended to have any application to foreign registered vessels

employing alien seamen.” 372 U.S. at 19. The alien exemption

precludes comparable applications of Tule VII.

By virtue of the alien exemption, applying Title VII to

employment discrimination abroad against American citizens

by American corporations is entirely consistent with the reason.

ing of Foley Bros., Benz, and McCulloch.

C. Other Provisions of Tithe Vil Are Consistent With Its Applice-

tien to Discrimination by American Employers Against

American Citizens Abroad

The court of appeals identified two features of Title VII that

u beheved were inconsistent with extraterritornal apphcation of

the statute —the statute's venue provision and its limitation on

the reach of the EEOC'S subpoena power. Pet. App. Sa-6a.

Upon analysis, nether provision weighs against applying Title

Vil to discrimination abroad against American citizens by

American corporations.

1. Section 706(1K3) of Tithe VIL, 42 U.S.C. 20000-5¢1)3),

allows an action to be brought “in any judicial district in the

State in which the unlawful employment practice ts alleged to

"See, @e. Cunard SS Co + Welton, 22 US. ba, 123-104 (P92,

tweed States ». Redeers, (MUS MY, A Tie

have been commitied, in the judicial district in which the em-

ployment records relevant to such practice are maintained and

administered, or in the judicial district in which the aggrieved

person would have worked but for the alleged unlawful employ-

ment practice” —or, “if the respondent is not found within any

such district, * * * within the judicial district in which the re-

spondent has his principal office.” Contrary to the court of ap-

peals’ suggestion, this provision does not create any significant

Venue gap for cases arising from discrimination abroad.

Only the first of the alternatives recognized by the

statute — venue in a district in a State in which the unlawful

employment practice has occurred — is necessarily unavailable in

a case arising from discrimination outside the United States. An

American corporation that has engaged in discrimination

against an American employee may maintain employment

records in the United States; the employee may be able to

demonstrate that he or would have been employed in this

country but for the alleged discrimination; and, if venue is

unavailable under ewher of those alternatives, the employer is

subject to suit in the district in which its “principal office” is

located. identical language in the Jones Act, 46 U.S.C. 688, has

been construed to refer to a defendant's principal office in the

Unued States.'' Thus, federal venue will be available in any case

m which the defendant has an office in the United States.

- SS

'' Sewert +. Pacific Stew Nevigation Co, 3 Fld 129. 1 SDNY

1924) 0b Hand, 3.) (The phrase ‘in which ity principal office » located” clear

I) means m which the principal office of the toreygn stcamshup Company

hovated within the United States”). See Arrocke \ Peneme Cone! Comm.

GT Supp. 231, 23546 DN.Y 1985) (reaching same result wader Jitte VIL)

Thy interpretation iy comstent with the language of Tithe VES Prove

von Ni gammy further support from the principle that because “Congress does

hot mm general intend to create Venue gaps,” “wn COMMrUuInE Venue Matures Hn

cavonable to preter the construction that avords leaving such a gap ” Brunette

Mache Works Led \. Kockum Indus. Ine. 406 US sS, 1a 8 CN97D)

in Dellow frewmht Sewem, Inc +. Donnelly, 1108 Ch 1566 (I ths

Court held that state courts have concurrent juridicnon over Tate VM ax

toms In our view. Tithe Vil should not be construcd to himit the venue of state

courts hearing Tithe Vil waits See Bumfradee \ Merckens & Vener, Tranyp

fe ®TUS Dey

Even if Tule Vil were construed to create a venue gap for

some cases artsing out of discrimination abroad, « would not

follow that Tithe VII should be interpreted to exempt all

discrumination outside the United States. At most, the existence

of such a gap would suggest that Congress was unwilling to

allow Amencans employed abroad a wider choice of venue than

that available to victims of discrimination in this country. There

is no indication that the venue provision was tied to Congress's

undersianding of the scope of the statute — and no other reason

to assume that Congress intended Tith VII's venue tail to wag

the statutory dog.

?. For similar reasons, Tithe VII's limitation on the Commis-

sion'’s subpoena power does not justify restricting the Act to

discrimination within the United States. At present, the Com-

mission ts empowered to issue subpoenas requiring attendance

of witnesses and production of evidence “from any place m the

United States or any Territory or possession thereof.” 42 U.S.C.

2000e-9 (incorporating 29 U.S.C. 1611). This limita-

tron — which operates solely on Commission subpoenas, not (as

the majority below suggested) on the EROC'S “investigatory

powers” —falls far short of suggesting that the Commission

lacks any authority to remedy discrumination against Americans

abroad, let alone that the statute fails to reach such discramima-

ton

In all respects save ts subpoena authority, the Commission's

NVesigatory powers are subject to no geographical restriction.

' The proven was enacted m 197) Before that me, the Common

wcured evademce Dy means of demands that were catorceadle Dy Court order.

but “the attendame of a witness joould) not be requaed owtwde the Srate

where he & fownd, revides, of Wansacts bawnes and the production of

cvmbemce foowkd) aot be required outude the Seate where seach evideme

kept” Ciel Rights Act of 1964. Pub LL. No 88-952, Ta. Vil, § Tithe), 78

Stat 264 bn our view, the difference between thn prov non aad the prov non

subvituted on 1972) 6 aot maternal to the question prevented mm thy cave bn one

rexpect, however, the 197) amendment hay apparceth cahamed the ( omen

eons abelty to umvestigate dorummanon abroad Comparadte watutes have

boon held to perma versace of a sebpeena mm thy country for documents

hnuted chewhere See. ee. CTC s Neko THE We 287. 292 2 a tl,

46 (DC Cw eee)

Section 706(a) of the Act, 42 U.S.C. 2000e-5(a), empowers the

Commission to conduct an investigation “[w}henever a charge is

filed” alleging an unlawful employment practice. For purposes

of those investigations, the Commission enjoys “access to, for

the purposes of examination, and the right to copy any evidence

of any person being investigated or proceeded against that

relates to unlawful employment practices covered by [Title VII]

and is relevant to the charge under investigation.” 42 U.S.C.

2000e-8. Although the Commission’s right of access may not be

fully enforceable by subpoena, there is no suggestion that its in-

vestigatory authority is limited to discrimination occurring in

the United States.

Nor is there any territorial limitation on the Commission’s

other functions under the Act. Nothing in the provisions confer-

ring authority on the Commission to conciliate charges of

discrimination, to initiate lawsuits, and to seek interim relief

restricts the Commission to discrimination in the United States,

42 U.S.C. 2000e-5(b) and (f). The limit on the EEOC’s ad-

ministrative subpoena authority does not foreclose the Commis-

sion’s performance of those functions — or impose any restraint

on the pursuit of private actions under Title VII. Upon the filing

of a lawsuit, the Commission or a private plaintiff may obtain

evidence required for a judicial action by means of judicial sub-

poenas served in this country (Fed. R. Civ. P. 45), subpoenas to

American citizens abroad (28 U.S.C. 1783), discovery under the

Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. and procedures available

under international agreements. See Societe Nationale In-

dustrielle Aerospatiale v. United States District Court, 482 U.S.

522 (1987) (discussing the principles regulating the choice

among these alternatives).

Finally, there is no necessary relationship between an agency’s

subpoena power and the scope of the statute it is empowered to

enforce.'? The statute authorizing the EEOC to issue sub-

'* See FTC s. Compagnie de Saint-Gobain-Pont-a-Mousson, 6% ¥ 2d

1300, 1322 (D.C. Cir, 1980) (noting the distinction between the FTC's authori-

ty to serve subpoenas outside the United States and “the larger question of the

FIC’s authority to investigate both domestic and foreign Corporations whose

actions have harmful effects on U.S. commerce”).

’ poenas compelling the attendance of witnesses “from any place

in the United States or any Territory or possession thereof” (42

U.S.C. 2000e-9 (incorporating 29 U.S.C. 161(1)) is virtually

identical to provisions conferring subpoena authority on many

other federal agencies, some of which administer statutes

reaching conduct outside the United States.'* A limitation on

Title VH’s substantive provisions may not properly be inferred

from the scope of the Commission’s subpoena authority.

D. The EEOC, the Agency Charged With Administrative Enforce-

ment of Tithe Vil, Has Interpreted the Statute to Apply to

Discrimination Against Americans Abroad

The EEOC has consistently construed Title VII to apply to

discrimination against American citizens outside the United

States. In 1975, the EEOC’s General Counsel, in a letter to

Senator Frank Church, stated that “[t}he language of Title VII

indicates a Congressional intent to make the Title applicable to

American citizens employed by American companies operating

overseas.” J.A. 48. If the alien exemption “is to have any mean-

ing at all,” the letter explained, “it is necessary to construe it as

expressing a Congressional intent to extend the coverage of Title

VII to include employment conditions of citizens in overseas

uperations of domestic corporations at the same time it excludes

aliens of the domestic corporation from the operation of the

statute.” J.A. 49. The letter added that this construction was

consistent with the purposes of the statute, noting that

“lo}verseas employment practices of covered employers can

have a very substantial impact on the employment opportunities

in domestic corporations.” /bid.

In 1984, the Chairman of the EEOC testified before a

subcommittee of the Senate that the alien exemption was in-

dicative of an intention to prohibit discrimination against

'* For mstance, the subpoena authority that the Commission enjoys under

the ADEA, a statute applying abroad, is limited to compelling the attendance

of witnesses and the production of evidence “trom any place m the United

States.” 18 U.S.C. 49 Uincorporated in 29 U.S.C. 209, 626(a)). The SEC's

authority under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 embodies the same limita.

ton 18 USC. 78sib)

Americans abroad.'* The Commission adhered to that inter-

pretation of the statute in a decision issued in 1985. EEOC Dec.

No. 85-16, Empl. Prac. Dec. (CCH) 4 6856 (Sept. 16, 1985).

Citing the alien exemption and district court decisions sustain-

ing Title VII's extraterritorial application, the Commission con-

cluded that “the Act does apply to covered employers with

respect to their employment of U.S. citizens outside the United

States.” Id. at 7072.'* The EEOC is one of two federal agencies

with primary responsibility for enforcing Title VII. Its inter-

pretation, which is consistent with the language and legislative

history of the relevant provisions, reinforces the conclusion that

Congress intended the statute to apply to Americans employed

by American employers abroad. See, e.g., EEOC v. Commer-

cial Office Products Co., 486 U.S. 107, 115 (1988).

The Justice Department —the other federal agency with Title

Vil responsibility—has also interpreted the statute to reach

discrimination abroad against American citizens. In 1975, an

Assistant Attorney General testified before committees of both

Houses of Congress that the alien exemptions in Sections 702

and 717 of Title VII imply that the statute applies outside the

United States. He stated:

It should be noted that both Executive Order 11478 and

§ 717 of Title VII specify that they are not applicable to

“aliens employed outside the limits of the United States.”

The implication of this is that they do apply to United

States citizens employed throughout the world.

'* Age Discrimination and Overseas Americans, 1983: Hearing Before the

Subcomm. on Aging of the Senate Comm. on Labor and Human Resources,

98th Cong., Ist Sess. 2-4 (1983) (testimony of Clarence Thomas).

'® Recently, the Commission has issued a statement clarifying its policy with

respect to the handling of charges of discrimination against corporations

operating abroad. Policy Statement No. N-915.033, EEOC Compl. Man.

(BNA), at 605:0055 (Sept. 2, 1988). The Commission has also applied Title V1i

_ to clauns of federal employees employed by the federal government abroad. See

Cole v. Secretary of the Army, BEOC Dec. No. 05890142 (Aug. 23, 1989);

Hedges v. Secretary of Defense, EEOC Dec. No. 05900454 (June 1, 1990). Sec-

tion 717 of Tithe VII, 42 U.S.C. 2000e-16, prohibits invidious discrimination in

“[a}ll personnel actions affecting employees or applicants for employment (ex-

cept with regard to aliens employed outside the limits of the United States).”

With respect to discrimination in employment by private

companies and individuals, Title Vil of the 1964 Civil

Rights Act, as amended, prohibits a broad range of

“unlawful employment practices” by any private employer

“engaged in an industry affecting commerce who has fif-

teen Or more employees.” * * * Once again the [statute]

contains an exemption “with respect to the employment of

aliens outside any State,” which implies that it is applicable

to the employment of United States citizens by covered

employers anywhere in the world.['’]

These administrative interpretations of Title VII provide fur-

ther support for the statute’s application to this case. See Foley

Bros., 336 U.S. at 288-290.

i. CONCERN FOR POTENTIAL CONFLICTS WITH THE

LAWS OF OTHER NATIONS DOES NOT WARRANT

LIMITING TITLE Vil TO DISCRIMINATION WITHIN THE

UNITED STATES

In determining the scope of federal statutes, this Court has

been sensitive to potential conflicts between our laws and those

of foreign states.'* In this case, the court of appeals placed great

weight on what it perceived as Title VII's lack of attention to

such conflicts. The court drew a contrast between Title VII's

references to state fair employment laws and its treatment of

foreign law. “If Congress had intended the Act to apply in

foreign countries,” the court stated, “we would expect Congress

' Foreign Invesiment and Arab Bovoott Legislation: Hearings Before the

Subcomm. on International Finance of the Senate Comm. on Banking, Hous

ing and Urban Affairs, 94th Cong., Ist Sess. 165 (1975) (testimony of Assis-

tam Au'y Gen. Scalia). Accord Discriminatory Arab Pressure on US.

Business’ Hearines Before the Subcomm. on International Trade and Com-

meree of the House Comm. on International Relations, 94h Cong., Ist Sess.

87-88 (1975), Diseruminatory Overseas Assignment Policies of Federal Agen.

cies’ Hearings Before a Subcomm. of the House Comm. on Government

Operations, 94th Cong., Ist & 2d Sess. 87-89 (1975-1976).

'* McCulloch \. Sociedad Nacional de Marineros de Honduras, 372.US. at

21; Benz v. Compania Naviera Hidalgo, 8.A., 353 U.S. at 145-146. See also

Sieele \. Bulova Watch Co., 344 U.S. at 289

to have been even more careful to address conflicts with foreign

discrimination laws. Yet the statute says nothing about potential

conflicts with foreign discrimination laws.” Pet. App. Sa. In the

same vein, the court contrasted Title VII with statutes in which

Congress had “demonstrated * * * its awareness of the need to

* * * address the concerns of conflicting foreign law” (id. at 6a).

This reasoning mischaracterizes Title VII and overstates the

Statute’s potential to generate conflicts with foreign law.

A. The Alien Exemption Represents Congress's Solution to

Potential Conflicts of Laws

Contrary to the court of appeals’ suggestion, Title VII does

speak to potential conflicts between Title VII and foreign law.

The stated purpose of the alien exemption is to mitigate poten-

tial conflicts with foreign law—in the words of the relevant

committee report, “to remove conflicts of law which might

otherwise exist between the United States and a foreign nation

in the employment of aliens outside the United States by an

American enterprise.” H.R. Rep. No. 570, supra, at 4. The alien

exemption thus embodies Congress's accommodation of the

goals of eradicating employment discrimination and avoiding

conflicts with foreign law. Congress “alone has the facilities

. Necessary to make fairly such an important policy decision.”

Benz, 353 U.S. at 147; see McCulloch, 372 U.S. at 22. Congress

addressed the problem and struck a balance it considered appro-

priate; the courts are not at liberty to restrike the balance.

B. Properly Applied, Tithe VII Does Not Create a Serious Poten-

tial for Conflicts with International Norms or the Laws of

Foreign States

1. Applied to discrimination by American corporations

against American employees, Tithe VII does not give rise to

significant conflicts with international norms or the law of

foreign states. Both Boureslan and respondents are American

nationals.'* As this Court has recognized, “the United States is

not debarred by any rule of law from governing the conduct of

its Own citizens upon the high seas or even in foreign countries

when the rights of other nations or their nationals are not in-

fringed.” Skiriotes v. Florida, 313 U.S. 69, 73 (1941).°° That is

so even when the result is dual regulation; international law ac-

cepts the possibility that more than one state’s law may apply

simultaneously to a given course of conduct. Restatement

(Third) of the Foreign Relations Law of the United States

§ 403(3) & comment d (1986).

In cases of dual regulation, application of Title VII is unlikely

to generate serious conflicts with the laws of individual foreign

states. In view of the emerging international consensus on

employment discrimination, cases in which foreign law requires

American corporations to discriminate on the basis of race, sex,

national origin, or religion are likely to be rare.*' In this case,

for instance, respondents have not suggested that any Saudi law

mandated discrimination against Boureslan. The possibility that

the United States and another nation may bott prohibit a par-

ticular form of discrimination — or that the other nation’s laws

neither compel nor prohibit discrimination that is unlawful

under Title Vil — does not give rise to a conflict of the type that

* See Reumemen (Third) of the Foreign Relations Law of the Unned

States § 213 (1986) (“For purposes of mternational law, a corporation has the

nationality of the state under the laws of which the corporation

organized.”). Ct. Sustomo Shop Ameria, Inc. ¥. Avaghewme, 457 US. 176

(1982) (under treaty between Japan and the United States, FS mecorporated

subsidiaries of Japanese corporations are deemed corporations of the United

States).

* Accord Vermilve- Brown Co.» Connell 395 U.S. 377 (1948), Bleck mer

v. United States, 284 U.S. 421, 436-497 (1992), Restatement (Third) of the

Loren Relations Law of the Unwed States § 402(2) (1986) texcept when u

would be unreasonable, “a viate has purndhotion to presoribe law with reypect

to * * * the activities, interests, status, or relations of ts nationals Outside as

well as withen ty terrmory”)

N.V.U. LL. Rew. 1288, 1297-1299 (1987) (and authormtes cited therem)

alien exemption.??

Even when foreign law compels discrimination that Title VII

would otherwise prohibit, defenses available under Title VII

serve to mitigate the resulting conflicts. If foreign law requires

positions to be filled with persons of a particular sex, nationality,

or religion, then that particular characteristic can be considered

a bona fide occupational qualification within the meaning of 42

U.S.C. 2000e-2(e).?? In certain cases, compliance with foreign

law may also furnish a non-discriminatory justification for

employment decisions that would otherwise be unlawful.** The

» By contrast, in McCulloch, 3"? U.S. at 21, application of the NLRA to

the foreign crews of foreign flag vessels would have given rise to a “head-on

colhsson” with Honduran law. Under that law, a Honduran umon was the ex-

clusive bargaming agent of the ships’ crews, and unions of other naionalities

were prohibited from acting im that capacity Recognition of an American

umon as the bargaming representative would have squarely violated Hon-

duran law

*' That Section provides, im pertinent part.

Notwithstanding any other provision of thes subchapter, (1) shall not

be an unlawful employment practice for an employer to hire and employ

employees * * * on the basis of [thei] rehgion, sex or national origin in

those instances where religion, sex, or national origin ts a bona fide oc-

cupational qualification reasonably necessary to the normal operation of

that particular business or enterprise * * *°.

in Aern v. Dyneelectron Corp., $77 F. Supp. 1196 (N_D. Tex. 1983), aff'd, 746

F.2d 810 (Sth Cir. 1984), the court held that membership in the Islamic faith

was a bona fide occupational quahfication for a position that involved fying

hehcopters to Mecca, since under Saudi Arabian law non Moslems are barred

from Mecca under penalty of death.

* In EEOC Dec. No. 85-10, Empl. Prac. Dec. (CCH) ¢ 6851 (July 16, 1985),

a contract in which an Amencan employer agreed to provide ai traffic control

services to a foreign country authonzed the host country to review and approve

the huring of the air traffic controllers who were to perform the contract. The

country withheld a work perma from a female ai traffic controller, explamng

that ws customs and laws prohibited the employment of women in most jobs.

Finding that there was a “current, authoritative, and factual basis” for |

employer's behef that the host country would not admit the particular con-

troller, the Commuassion held that there was “a legitimate, nondiscruminatory

reason for not hiring fher].” fd. at 7053. See Restatement (Third) of the Foreign

Relations Law of the United States § 441 & comment b (1986).

availability of these defenses reduces the likelihood that em-

ployers will be placed in a position in which it is impossible to

comply with both Tithe VIL and the law of a foreign state.

Courts may also take foreign law into account in fashioning

equitable reliet.??

2. As the court of appeals noted, more difficult issues

would be presented by Tithe VII's application to foreign em-

ployers with respect to the employment of Americans abroad.

Pet. App. Sa-6a. The court erred, however, in embracing the

all-or-nothing proposition that Tithe VIL must be interpreted to

apply ether to all Americans employed abroad or to none of

them. In United States v. Aluminum Co. of America, 148 F.2d

416, 443 (2d Cir. 1945), the Second Circuit noted that the excep-

tionally broad language in the Sherman Act could be interpreted

to embody accepted international limits on prescriptive juris-

diction. The court explained that courts are “not to read general

words, such as those in [the Sherman Act}, without regard to

the limitations customarily observed by nations upon the exer-

cre of their powers.” /bid. This Court has employed a similar

approach in interpreting federal maritime statutes. Lauritzen v.

Larsen, 345 U.S. 571, 577 (1953).2°

The Commission's policy statement on the extraterrmtornal entorcement of

bithe VEE requires field offices to contact the Commission's Tithe VIE Division

1} an issue atises Concerming & potential conthet with a toreiwn state's law; the

Division then coordmates with the Department of State. EEOC Policy State

ment No. N-915.033, supra, at 605°0057

"See Romero \. International Lerminal Operating Co., 388 US. 354, 382

(1959), United States \. Palmer, 16 US. (3 Wheat.) 610, 631 CI8I8). In

fauricen, thy Court held that the Jones Act— which creates a damaves

remedy im tasor of “[ajny seaman who shall suffer personal myjury in the

course of his employment” — does not apply to an injury sulfered by a foreign

seaman myured aboard a toremn tag vessel in a toreiwn port. The Court es

plamed that “[b]y usage as old as the Nation, [American shippime] statutes

have been construed to apply only to areas and transactions m= which

American law would be cons.dered operative under prevalent doctrines of im

ternational law.” 345 US. at 576-577. That approach, the Court contmued,

wasn “accord with the long-heeded admonition of Mir. Chict lustice Marshall

that “an act of congress ought never to be construcd to violate the law of nations

Hany other possible comstruction remams.” ” Jd at 378 (quotine Murray \

International law recognizes a state’s jurisdiction to prescribe

rules governing its nationals’ relations with one another, and the

depth of the United States’ interest in eliminating discrimination

from those relationships cannot be gainsaid. Thus, application

of American law to discrimination by an American corporation

against an American citizen is entirely consistent with interna-

tional law. Limiting principles applied in Alcoa and Lauritzen

are available to avoid extreme applications of Title VII that

would be violative of international law. Thus, Title VII does not

present the stark choice that the court of appeals perceived, and

concern about the consequences of applying Title VII to foreign

employers cannot justify withholding its protections from

Boureslan in this case.?’

C. Tithe VIPS Treatment of Conflicts with State Law Provides No

Basis for Questioning the Extraterritorial Application of the

Statute

Citing Title VII's references to state fair employment laws,

the court of appeals suggested that Congress could not have in-

The Schooner Charming Betsy, 6 U.S. (2 Cranch) 64, 118 (1804)). See also

Weinberger \. Rossi, 486 U.S. 25, 32 (1982) (noting this principle’s force as ap-

pled “to the construction of statutes couched in general language which are

sought to be applied in an extraterritorial way”); McCulloch v. Sociedad Na-

cional de Marineros de Honduras, 372 U.S. at 21-22; Stemhardt, The Role of

International Law As a Canon of Domestic Statutory Construction, 43 Vand.

L. Rev. 1103, 1142-1143 (1990).

?? In ts policy statement on the appheation of Tithe VII to discrimination

outside the United States, the EEOC has recognized that “[wjhere the

discrimination takes place overseas, the status of the employer as an American

or foreign company is significant.” EEOC Policy Statement No. N-915.033,

supra, at 605.0061.

The legislative history of the alien exemption suggests that Congress's focus

was on prohibiting discrimination by “American enterprise[s}].” H.R. Rep. No.

$70, supra, at 4. See S. Rep. No. 867, supra, at 11 (referring to “US.

employers” im “toremn lands”). This case, of course, presents only the question

of tile VIPS appheation to alleged discrimination by an American corpora-

tion avast an American citizen

tended to apply Tithe VIL to discrimination outside the United

States without including equivalent provisions addressing

foreign laws. Pet. App. Sa. This reasoning rests on a misappre-

hension of Tithe VIL. Tithe VIL provides tor limited deterence to

state fair employment procedures that are consistent with Title

Vil, but does not subordinate its substantive provisions to any

conflicting requirements of state law. In this light, the fact that

the statute also provides no express exception tor potentially

contlicting foreign laws creates no anomaly that undercuts Title

VII's application abroad.

When a State has a law prohibiting the unlawtul employment

practice alleged in a particular case, the charging party is obli-

vated to file a charge with the State prior to filing a charge with

the Commission; the EEOC is obligated to atford the State an

opportunity to remedy the practice before secking its own relict;

and, in making its determination as to whether there ts reasonable

cause to believe that a charge ts true, the Commission must “ac-

cord substantial weight to final findings and orders made by State

or local authorities” in) proceedings triggered by those re-

quirements. 42 U.S.C. 2000e-5(b) to 2000e-5(d).7* The tact that

Congress chose not to extend these procedures to foreign govern-

ments administering unfamiliar employment laws does not even

remotely suggest that it intended to withdraw all protection from

Americans employed abroad.

lithe VIE does not accommodate conflicting state fair employ-

ment laws. To the contrary, Tithe VIL supersedes any state law

that “purports to require or permit the doing of any act which

would be an unlawful employment practice under Tithe VIL.” 42

U.S.C. 2000e-7. Thus, Tithe VID is, if anything, less tolerant ot

contlicts with state law than it is of conthcts with foreign

substantive law. Even assuming tor the moment that Congress

can be expected to view toreign law as equivalent to state law,

lithe VIE does not distinguish between them in a manner casting

doubt on its application to Americans abroad.

"Section 709¢b), 42 USC 2000 8b), also authorizes the Commission to

civave Wb vatious forms of Cooperation with state and local tam employment

dvUcticies

D. The 1984 Amendments to the ADEA Do Not Justify A

Distinction Between Age Discrimination and Discrimination

Based Upon Race, Sex, National Origin, or Religion

The court of appeals’ emphasis on the distinction between Ti-

tle VII and the 1984 amendments to the Age Discrimination in

Employment Act was also misplaced. The ADEA amendments

were enacted after several courts of appeals had held that that

Statute did not apply abroad.?* The legislation’s express purpose

was to confer on American citizens employed abroad the same

protection against age discrimination that, Congress was ad-

vised, Americans already enjoyed from other forms of invidious

employment discrimination. Senator Grassley, sponsor of the

ADEA amendments, explained that the amendments would

“clear[ | up an anomaly” between the ADEA and Title VII as

applied to discrimination abroad. 129 Cong. Rec. 34,499

(1983).°° The ADEA amendments thus provide no support for

the view that the 1964 Congress that enacted Title VII was less

concerned with eradicating discrimination against Americans

abroad based on race, sex, national origin, and religion than the

1984 Congress was with age discrimination. ?!

** Zuhourek v. Arthur Young & Co., 780 €.2d 827 (10th Cir. 1984); Cleary

\. Unued States Lines, Inc., 728 &.2d 607 (3d Cir. 1984). After the ADEA was

amended, other courts reached the same conclusion regarding the original ver-

sion of the statute. Lopez v. Pan Am World Services, Inc., 813 &.2d 1118

(Lith Cur, 1987); De Yoreo \. Bell Helicopter Textron, Inc., 785 b.2d 1282 (Sth

Cir. 1986); Ralis vy. RFE/RL, Inc., 770 &.2d 1121 (D.C. Cir. 1985); Pfeiffer v.

William Wrieley Jr. Co., 755 &.2d $54 (7th Cir. 1985); Thomas v. Brown &

Root, Inc., 745 F.2d 279 (4th Cir. 1984). These decisions often noted that the

ahen cxempuon distinguished Tithe VIE from the ADEA. &.2., Cleary v.

United States Lines, Inc., 728 F.2d at 609.

* During hearmes on the proposed legislation, the EEOC's Chairman

testified that Tithe VIE had been construed to apply to discrimination outside

the United States. See Age Discrimination and Overseas Americans, 1983:

Hearing Before the Subcomm. on Aging of the Senate Comm. on Labor and

Human Resources, 98th Gong., Ist Sess. 2-4 (1983) (testimony of Clarence

Thomas).

' The provisions of Tithe VEL at issue in this case and the ADEA are not the

only prohibitions on employment discrumination outside the United States

See Act of Sept. 28, 1971, Pub. L. No. 92-129, Tit, 1, § 106, 85 Stat. 355 (pro

Tithe VII, no less than the ADEA, manifests a clear intention

to provide American citizens with protection from invidious

employment discrimination abroad. The language of Title VII

demonstrates that Congress foresaw the statute’s application to

discrimination outside the United States and tailored its

coverage by exempting aliens with respect to employment out-

side the United States. Nothing in the statute is inconsistent with

its application to employment discrimination by American cor-

porations against Americans abroad. The courts below erred in

failing to entorce Tithe VIL according to its terms.

CONCLUSION

Lhe judgment of the court of appeals should be reversed.

Respectfully submitted.

Ki NNE TH W. STARR

e Solicitor General

JOUN R. DUNNE

Assistant Attorney General

JOUN G. ROBERTS. IR

Deputy Solicitor General

DONALD R. LIVINGSTON STEPHEN Lo NiGHITINGALE

Acting General Counsel Assistant to the Solicitor General

GWENDOLYN YOUNG REANMS

Associate General Counsel

VINCENTE J. BLACKWOOD

Assastant General Counsel

SAMUEL AL MARC OSSON

ifforney

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission

NOVEMBER 1990

hibitine discrummation avast Amerncan cuizens and then dependents on

American military bases abroad), SOU SC) App. 2407 (authorizing rewula

Hons prohibiting discrimination on basis of race, religion, sex or national

onwin to comply with foremwn boycotts)

IVE MMME NT PretatiNng GFF t tre : ' ;

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