Tribal hiring preferences based on political classifications are permissible under Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit recently held in EEOC v. Peabody W. Coal Co.1 The first federal circuit court of appeals to address the question in such detail, the Ninth Circuit rejected the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s claim that a mining company’s implementation of a tribal hiring preference — based on leases drafted by the U.S. Department of the Interior — violated Title VII’s prohibition of national origin discrimination. The case presented an unusual posture, with the EEOC being adverse to the Department of Interior, which itself was represented by the Department of Justice.