In Kouba v. Allstate Ins. Co., 691 F.2d 873, 876 (9th Cir.1982), the Ninth Circuit has held that, "the Equal Pay Act does not impose a strict prohibition against the use of prior salary." Kouba, 691 F.2d at 878. In Kouba, the Ninth Circuit found that the per se rejection of reliance on prior salary as a factor other than sex would be inconsistent with Congress's decision to adopt a broad, catch-all affirmative defense. However, the court in Kouba ultimately remanded the case to the district court to determine whether the employer's consideration of past salary was reasonable. The court stated, "a pragmatic standard, which protects against abuse yet accommodates employer discretion, is that the employer must use the factor reasonably in light of the employer's stated purpose as well as its other practices." Id. at 876-77. Therefore although the court in Kouba refused to adopt a bright line rule against reliance on salary retention or past salary as factors other than sex, it was willing to sit in review of the employer's decisions.