Hiring Ban on Women at Bohemian Club Voided

A state appeals court has struck down the ban on hiring women at a summer encampment maintained by the exclusive Bohemian Club, which includes President Reagan and Vice President George Bush among its members.

The policy at the secretive Bohemian Grove retreat violates state anti-discrimination laws and is not justified by the privacy rights of club members, said a unanimous three-judge panel of the 1st District Court of Appeal.

Appeal Expected

The Bohemian Club is expected to appeal the ruling to the state Supreme Court. The ruling does not affect the club’s men-only membership policy.

The club’s 2,000 members include dozens of the nation’s most influential political and business leaders.

Women hold a few jobs at club headquarters in downtown San Francisco but are excluded from all employment at Bohemian Grove in the redwoods 65 miles north of San Francisco. The hiring policy was originally challenged in May, 1979.

In its ruling issued late Thursday, the court cited a U.S. Supreme Court decision requiring private clubs to submit to state anti-discrimination laws unless certain “intimate associational rights” or “highly personal relationships” would be violated.

Noting that Bohemian Club policy forbids fraternizing between employees and club members, the appeals court said the hiring of women would not affect any “intimate” associations.

Justification Not Seen

The opinion by Justice William Newsom also said it was no justification that club members favored the ban on female employees or that members might be inhibited from walking around the encampment in the nude. If the men are embarrassed, they can always use available enclosed shower and bathroom facilities, Newsom said.

The court ordered the case returned to a state civil rights agency to consider damage claims of female job applicants.