13 Fair empl.prac.cas. 1436, 12 Empl. Prac. Dec. P 11,206 Manuel Aguirre v. Chula Vista Sanitary Service and Sani-Tainer, Inc.

This is an appeal from the district court’s order denying a motion for preliminary injunction in an employment discrimination action under 42 U.S.C. § 1981 and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e. We reverse and remand.

Appellants are Spanish-surnamed employees of a garbage disposal company. Their complaint alleged discrimination in wages, availability of work at overtime rates, availability of on-the-job training programs, and in the use of sanitary facilities. They allege that the filing of a complaint with EEOC was followed by harassment and the retaliatory discharge of appellant Primitivo Melendez. They sought a preliminary injunction prohibiting harassment and discriminatory treatment and requiring reinstatement of Melendez pending the outcome of the trial. The district court denied relief on the ground that appellants failed to show a probability of success on the merits.

The grant or denial of a preliminary injunction may be reversed only if the lower court abused its discretion or based its decision upon an erroneous legal premise. Douglas v. Beneficial Finance Co., 469 F.2d 453, 454 (9th Cir. 1972).

We think an error of law appears in the…