Maura A. Jenkins v. Harrisburg Rotary Club, aka Rotary Club of Harrisburg, et al.

In the case of Board of Dirs. of Rotary Int'l v. Rotary Club of Duarte, The Supreme Court of the United States affirmed Rotary International’s control over the local Rotary Club and upheld the decision of The California Court of Appeals to not allow Rotary International to continue to discriminate against women. Bd. of Dirs. of Rotary Int'l v. Rotary Club of Duarte, 481 U.S. 537, 543-44 (1987). In the current case, Rotary International (“RI”) and Harrisburg Rotary Club A.K.A. Rotary Club of Harrisburg (“HRC”) discriminated against Maura Jenkins (“Jenkins”) for her religion / religious beliefs. Jenkins was the only employee working at HRC where she was terminated from employment because of a private faith-based Facebook post which is alleged to have violated RI’s code of conduct. The United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit upheld the District Court’s entry of summary judgment against Jenkins. The Third Circuit emphasized that RI-HRC did not have a parentsubsidiary corporate relationship to qualify as a single employer to meet the numerosity requirement of 42 U.S.C. § 2000e et seq. (“Title VII”). The United States Circuit courts are split as to what the proper test is for treating two entities as a single employer under Title VII. The question presented is: For the purposes of joining two entities to meet the numerosity requirement of Title VII, what are the proper factors to be considered, including is parentsubsidiary ownership required?