This case, in which the ACLU represented the Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH) challenged a decision made by an administrative law judge which stated that male gender is a "bona-fide occupational qualification" at the Bohemian Club. The Bohemian Club, which was founded in 1872 and which admits only men, was charged with violating the Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) for its refusal to hire women into certain roles. The Club, which operates two locations - one in San Francisco and one in Monte Rio, California (the "Bohemian Grove"), employs men in managerial, clerical, craft, food preparation and service, cleaning and personal service positions. Women are only employed in positions (such as accounting and administrative roles, in the print shop, or as room cleaners or food servers) that don't require their presence at Club functions.

The Club contended that, as a nonprofit private entity, it was not subject to the antidiscrimination provisions of FEHA. The Fair Employment and Housing Act was public policy provision intended “to protect and safeguard the right and opportunity of all persons to seek, obtain, and hold employment without discrimination or abridgement on account of race, religious creed, color, national origin, ancestry, physical handicap, medical condition, marital status, sex, or age.” The Club asserted that, by being forced to hire women, the court would be violating their freedom of association, as guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution.

The court, which sided with FEHA, wrote that "Even were we to assume...that the members' associational rights would somehow be constricted by the Club's forced hiring of women, we think such infringement would be justified by the State's compelling interest in eradicating employment discrimination."