Robino

Allan Robino and three other male Adult Corrections Officers (“ACOs”) at the Women’s Community Correctional Center (“WCCC”) on the Island of Oahu appeal the district court’s summary judgment for the Director of the WCCC and the State of Hawaii. We review the district court’s decision de novo, and affirm. See Covey v. Holly dale Mobilehome Estates, 116 F.3d 830, 834 (9th Cir.1997).

I.

The ACOs filed a sexual discrimination action, pursuant to Title VII, based on the WCCC’s policy of assigning only female ACOs to six posts each of which included a First Watch position. The district court found that gender was a bona fide occupational qualification (“BFOQ”) reasonably necessary to accommodate the privacy interests of the female inmates and reduce the risk of sexual conduct between ACOs and inmates. See 42 U.S.C.2000e-2(e)(l).

After a study conducted by a specially appointed task force in compliance with an EEOC settlement agreement, prison officials authorized by the Department of Personnel Services determined that the best policy to protect female inmates and to prevent allegations of sexual misconduct was to designate six posts as female-only. This professional judgment is…