Footnote-picking in the Spouse-Picking Case

November 14, 2005

I am, by far, not the first lawyer ever to say I have disagreed with a number of Supreme Court decisions.  Even law students have a list of their favorites.  One case that’s on my top ten is  Duncan Association of Detailman v. Glaxo where the Supreme Court said, in effect, that your employer has a legitimate right to regulate your choice of spouse as part of its goal in protecting its commercial interests.  In that case, the Court upheld the validity of a company policy prohibiting employees from marrying persons employed by a competitor. 

I don’t know about you, but I think the choice of spouse is an intimately private decision and one which the State (much less a private company) is not entitled to interfere with.   Who I marry is part and parcel of my pursuit of happiness and an inherent right.  After all, what is liberty worth if the State can regulate or tolerate the regulation of such intimate life choices? 

Going back to the case. I read it again today and I noticed that the Court used a US case to support its decision.  This isn’t unusual.  Despite the Court’s own assertion that the “umbilical cord” between Philippine and US jurisprudence has been cut, many of its decisions rely heavily on American case law.  Well, here’s what the Court said:

As held in a Georgia, U.S.A case,[22] it is a legitimate business practice to guard business confidentiality and protect a competitive position by even-handedly disqualifying from jobs male and female applicants or employees who are married to a competitor. Consequently, the court ruled than an employer that discharged an employee who was married to an employee of an active competitor did not violate Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.[23] The Court pointed out that the policy was applied to men and women equally, and noted that the employer’s business was highly competitive and that gaining inside information would constitute a competitive advantage.

The case referred to in Footnote 22 is:

Emory v. Georgia Hospital Service Association (1971), DC Ga., 4 CCH EPD ¶ 7785, 4 BNA FEP Cas 891, affd (CA5) 446 F2d 897, 4 CCH EPD ¶ 7786; Cited 45 Am Jr 2d Sec. 469.

(The entire case is quoted at the end of this post) (more…)