Jespersen v. Harrah's Operating Company Inc. - College of Social ...

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rest were gender specific requirements: for men, “Hair must not extend below top of shirt collar.
Ponytails are prohibited. Hands and fingernails must be clean and nails neatly trimmed at all
times. No colored polish is permitted. Eye and facial makeup is not permitted,” and for females,
“Hair must be teased, curled, or styled. Hair must be worn down at all times. Make up (face
powder, blush and mascara) must be worn and applied neatly in complimentary colors. Lip color
must be worn at all times” (4). For the makeup requirement, Harrah’s hired a cosmetic artist who
gave consultations to the female employees and a diagram of how to put on their makeup in each
day for work. By May 5 2000, after Plaintiff, who never wears makeup in her day-to-day life,
made an attempt to conform to the new policy, stated that the makeup made her feel “extremely
uncomfortable, ill and violated,” and would discontinue wearing the required cosmetics. In
response the Defendant offered Plaintiff the opportunity to view Harrah’s job offerings that did
not have a makeup requirement; Jespersen refused and was terminated as a result (3). The
Plaintiff filed suit against Defendant with the United States District Court for the District of
Nevada claiming that Harrah’s Operating Co. Inc. discriminated against her in violation of Title
VII; the District Court of Nevada granted a summary judgment for the Defendant. A summary
judgment is a decision in favor of one party in order to spare courts from “unnecessary trials”
when the presiding judges determine that the opposing party does not have enough evidence to
make a case (3). In Jespersen v. Harrah’s Operating Co. Inc., the District Court, decided that the
Plaintiff did not have enough evidence to prove discrimination as defined by Title VII. The
Plaintiff appealed the District Court’s summary judgment to the United States Court of Appeals
for the Ninth Circuit. The Circuit Court stated that the Plaintiff failed to establish a prima facie