## Facts

- Field Enterprises, Inc. (Field) was a Chicago-area newspaper publisher.
- Field printed classified “help wanted” advertisements under separate headings for men and women (such as “Male Help Wanted” and “Female Help Wanted”).
- Pat Greenfield, a woman and member of the Chicago-area labor market, sued Field under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
- Greenfield alleged that dividing job listings by sex was discrimination “because of sex” and amounted to an unlawful “classification” of employment opportunities.
- Greenfield’s theory was that Field functioned as an “employment agency” within Title VII by publishing and organizing the employment ads.
- Field moved to dismiss the complaint, arguing that a newspaper that sells advertising space and prints classifieds is not an “employment agency” as Title VII defines that term.

## Issues

1. Whether a newspaper that publishes and organizes help-wanted advertisements under sex-based headings is an “employment agency” under Title VII, making it subject to § 703(b).
2. If the newspaper is not an “employment agency,” whether the complaint states a Title VII claim against the newspaper based on its classified-ad publication practices.

## Decision

- The court granted Field’s motion to dismiss.
- The court held that Field, acting as a newspaper publisher, was not an “employment agency” within the meaning of Title VII.
- The court reasoned that publishing classified advertisements may aid hiring and job searches, but it is not the business of “procuring” employees for employers or “procuring” job opportunities for workers as required by the statutory definition.
- Because Field was not a covered “employment agency,” Title VII § 703(b) did not apply to Field on the facts alleged, and the complaint was dismissed.

## Legal Principles

- Title VII § 703(b) regulates discriminatory practices by “employment agencies,” including discriminatory classifications or referrals.
- Title VII defines an “employment agency” as an entity that regularly undertakes (with or without compensation) to procure employees for employers or to procure job opportunities for employees.
- A newspaper that merely publishes help-wanted advertisements, without operating as a placement or referral service, does not become an “employment agency” solely because its classifieds facilitate contact between employers and job seekers.
- Title VII liability under § 703(b) depends on the defendant’s status as an “employment agency” under the statute; without that status, the employment-agency provision does not reach the defendant’s publication activity.

## Conclusion

Greenfield v. Field Enterprises held that a newspaper’s practice of printing sex-segregated help-wanted headings did not, by itself, turn the newspaper into an “employment agency” under Title VII, so the court dismissed the § 703(b) claim on Field’s motion to dismiss.


Greenfield v. Field Enterprises, 4 FEP Cases 548 (1972)