This research examines how, and under what conditions, courts may defer to organizational structures that have become widely institutionalized. We focus on two types of deference to institutionalized organizational structures. Compliance deference exists where courts infer the presence or absence of discrimination in particular cases in part from symbolic indicia of compliance with EEO law such as policies prohibiting discrimination, routinized performance evaluation systems, or grievance procedures. Business deference exists where courts endorse institutionalized business practices (such as appearance requirements, English-only rules, or word-of-mouth hiring systems) by accepting those practices as justified by market concerns or by other business concerns. The research involves quantitative and qualitative content analyses of 1000 federal civil rights cases decided between 1964 and 1999.
