Erik Unt v. The Aerospace Corporation, United States Air Force, Space and Missile Systems Organization, and Air Force Systems Command

Erik Unt appeals the trial court’s judgment in favor of appellee Aerospace Corporation (Aerospace) on his first claim under Title VII of the Civil Rights Acts of 1964, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e et seq. He also appeals the dismissal of his second claim for violation of the Privacy Act, 5 U.S.C. § 552a, against appellees Aerospace, the United States Air Force (Air Force), Space and Missile Systems Organization (SAMSO), and Air Force Systems Command. We affirm.

FACTS

On December 12, 1972, appellant Erik Unt, a naturalized citizen of the United States born in Estonia, was employed as a Level 1 member of the Aerospace technical staff. Aerospace is a California nonprofit corporation formed for the purpose of providing systems engineering and technical direction to the Air Force missile and space program.

In August 1975, Unt filed an informal internal grievance against Aerospace, claiming discrimination based on national origin. This discrimination allegedly was manifested by appellant’s July 1975 performance review and the refusal of Aerospace to promote him to a Level 2 management position. Additionally, Unt applied for, but did not receive, promotion to various other higher level…

dissenting:

Unt wrote a letter to the Air Force in which he blew the whistle on his employer, The Aerospace Corp., a defense contractor. The Air Force received Unt’s letter and promptly revealed it to the Aerospace Corp. without Unt’s permission. Aerospace then fired him. The majority holds that despite the Air Force’s undisputed ability to receive, maintain, retrieve, and reveal Unt’s letter, which discloses that Unt is a whistle-blower, to the very employer about which Unt was complaining, Unt’s claim fails because the letter was not “about” Unt.

I dissent from this holding in Part 11(B) of the opinion. I concur in Part I because it upholds the district court’s finding of no discrimination, but I disagree with the dicta in that portion that might undermine federal protection for an employee’s right to blow the whistle on his employer. I concur in Part 11(A) of the opinion, but I disagree with its dicta concerning the nature of Unt’s letter.

The plain language of the Act encompasses Unt’s letter. Section 552a(b) provides: “No agency shall disclose any record which is contained in a system of records by any means of communication to any person, or to another agency, except…

765 F.2d 1440 38 Fair Empl.Prac.Cas. 999 , 37 Empl. Prac. Dec. P 35,427 , 2 Fed.R.Serv.3d 524 Erik UNT, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. The AEROSPACE CORPORATION, United States Air Force, Space and Missile Systems Organization, and Air Force Systems Command, Defendants-Appellees. No. 82-6087. United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit. Argued and Submitted Jan. 7, 1985. Decided July 19, 1985. Daniel C. Lavery, Tarzana, Cal., for plaintiff-appellant. David Clark, Chase, Rotchford, Drukker & Bogust, Los Angeles, Cal., for defendants-appellees. Appeal from the United States District Court for the Central District of California. Before SNEED, POOLE and FERGUSON, Circuit Judges. POOLE, Circuit Judge: 1 Erik Unt appeals the trial court's judgment in favor of appellee Aerospace Corporation (Aerospace) on his first claim under Title VII of the Civil Rights Acts of 1964, 42 U.S.C. Sec. 2000e et seq. He also appeals the dismissal of his second claim for violation of the Privacy Act, 5 U.S.C. Sec. 552a, against appellees Aerospace, the United States Air Force (Air Force), Space and Missile Systems Organization (SAMSO), and Air Force Systems Command. We affirm. FACTS 2 On December 12, 1972,…