An employer may not, in the absence of business necessity, refuse to hire women with preschool-age children while hiring men with such children. Decided January 25, 1971 (argued December 9, 1970). Topic: Discrimination based on sex. Phillips v. Martin Marietta Corp., 400 U.S. 542 (1971), is a United States Supreme Court landmark case in which the Court held that under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, an employer may not, in the absence of business necessity, refuse to hire women with pre-school-age children while hiring men with such children. It was the first gender-discrimination case under Title VII to reach the Court. Wiki link