Law Commons^™

Transforming Transsexual And Transgender Rights, L. Camille Hebert

William & Mary Journal of Race, Gender, and Social Justice

State and federal employment anti-discrimination statutes have failed to adequately protect transsexual and transgendered individuals in the workplace. Although advancements have been made in recent years regarding the protection of sexual minorities, transsexual and transgendered employees continue to receive sporadic and noncomprehensive protection. Various approaches have been taken to extend protection against discrimination to these individuals, including the utilization of disability protection statutes, the expansion of anti-discrimination statutes, and the protection of transsexual and transgendered individuals as a class; however, these approaches have proven flawed in providing adequate protection.

An examination of anti-discrimination law shows that these measures, while perhaps …

On Lilly Ledbetter's Liberty: Why Equal Pay For Equal Work Remains An Elusive Reality, Katie Putnam

William & Mary Journal of Race, Gender, and Social Justice

No abstract provided.

The Continuing Drift Of Federal Sovereign Immunity Jurisprudence, Gregory C. Sisk

William & Mary Law Review

With the enduring doctrine of federal sovereign immunity, it is too late in the day to suggest that the United States should be treated as an ordinary party in the federal courts. Yet as the Supreme Court has become more comfortable with the increasingly common encounter with a statutory waiver of immunity, the rigidity of interpretive approach has eased. An early jaundiced judicial attitude has resolved into a greater respect for the legislative promise of relief to those harmed by their government. After sketching the history of statutory waivers over the past century-and-a-half and examining Supreme Court decisions across the …

Reconstructing The Race-Sex Analogy, Serena Mayeri

William & Mary Law Review

In the standard account, American sex equality law rests on a partial and imperfect analogy to race, developed in the 1970s by feminists intent on establishing formal equality between men and women, and embraced, albeit selectively and uneasily, by lawmakers and judges. But this account, although containing important elements of truth, obscures the creative ways that advocates turned the tables, arguing that principles developed in sex equality jurisprudence could expand the availability of remedies for racial injustice. This Article explores one example of this phenomenon: efforts, led by Ruth Bader Ginsburg, to use the emerging constitutional distinction between detrimental and …

Petruska V. Gannon University: A Crack In The Stained Glass Ceiling, Sarah Fulton

William & Mary Journal of Race, Gender, and Social Justice

An examination of the protections afforded to religious institutions in their hiring decisions. Both § 702 of the Civil Rights Act and the judicially created ministerial exception allow churches to use criteria that other employers are not permitted to use under the law when making hiring decisions. Beginning with McClure v. Salvation Army, courts have slowly expanded the scope of these protections, leading up to the recent case of Petruska v. Gannon University. Petruska provides an example of the extent to which a broad reading of § 702 and the ministerial exception can harm religious workers. The opinion of Judge …

Discrimination And Outrage: The Migration From Civil Rights To Tort Law, Martha Chamallas

William & Mary Law Review

It is not always appreciated that proven discrimination on the basis of race or sex may not amount to a tort and that even persistent racial or sexual harassment may not be enough to qualify for tort recovery. This Article explores the question of whether discriminatory and harassing conduct in the workplace is or should be considered outrageous conduct, actionable under the tort of intentional infliction of emotional distress. In recent years, courts have taken radically different approaches to the issue, from holding that such claims are preempted to treating the infliction tort as a reinforcement of civil rights principles. …

Anti-Zionism As Racism: Campus Anti-Semitism And The Civil Rights Act Of 1964, Kenneth L. Marcus

William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal

No abstract provided.

The Diversity Rationale For Affirmative Action In Employment After Grutter: The Case For Containment, Jared M. Mellot

William & Mary Law Review

No abstract provided.

Circling Back To The Obvious: The Convergence Of Traditional And Reverse Discrimination In Title Vii Proof, Charles A. Sullivan

William & Mary Law Review

No abstract provided.

En/Gendering Equality: Seeking Relief Under Title Vii Against Employment Discrimination Based On Sexual Orientation, Anthony E. Varona, Jeffrey Monks

William & Mary Journal of Race, Gender, and Social Justice

No abstract provided.

Beyond The Scope Of Employer Liability: Employer Failure To Address Retaliation By Co-Workers After Title Vii Protected Activity, Elana Olson

William & Mary Journal of Race, Gender, and Social Justice

No abstract provided.

There's Nothing Special About Sex: The Supreme Court Mainstreams Sexual Harassment, Rebecca Hanner White

William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal

In this Essay, Professor White argues that the Supreme Court finally has merged analysis of sexual harassment law with other claims of intentional discrimination. Professor White contends that the Court's decision in Meritor Savings Bank, FSB v. Vinson created confusion over the proper analysis of sexual harassment claims by seemingly embracing quid pro quo and hostile work environment theories as distinct forms of discrimination and by suggesting that at least some sexual harassment claims may warrant a revised approach to employer liability. In the wake of Meritor, sexual harassment claims increasingly were evaluated differently from other claims of disparate treatment, …

Taking Discrimination Seriously: Oncale And The Fate Of Exceptionalism In Sexual Harassment Law, Steven L. Willborn

William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal

In both the case law and the literature, sexual harassment is treated as an exceptional and unique form of discrimination. In this Article, Professor Willborn expands on the Supreme Court's recent decision in Oncale v. Sundowner Offshore Services, Inc. to argue that this exceptionalism should be rejected and that harassment law should return to its roots in the broader body of antidiscrimination law. Professor Willborn begins by articulating the contours of a discrimination-centered model of sexual harassment and explaining how it differs from currently accepted views. He then reviews the Supreme Court's recent cases on sexual harassment, concluding that they …

Faragher, Ellerth, And The Federal Law Of Vicarious Liability For Sexual Harassment By Supervisors: Something Lost, Something Gained, And Something To Guard Against, William R. Corbett

William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal

In this Essay, the author faces his nightmare exam question: he must define "sexual harassment" to the satisfaction of several potential graders with different perspectives on sexual harassment law. His valiant effort to justify his response leads him to a discussion of the federal law of vicarious liability for sexual harassment by supervisors after the Supreme Court's recent rejection of tort law respondeat superior analysis for such claims under Title VII. The author argues that, while the rejection of the tort standard for vicarious liability in Title VII claims removes the longstanding connection between Title VII law and state tort …

The Plain Meaning Of Oncale, Catherine J. Lanctot

William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal

The unanimous Supreme Court opinion in Oncale v. Sundowner Offshore Services, Inc. caught many observers by surprise. Even more surprising than the Court's unanimity on the divisive issue of same-sex harassment, however, was the author of the opinion-the deeply conservative Justice Antonin Scalia. Many commentators suggest that the opinion's requirement that plaintiffs prove that the harassment was "because of sex" will hamper lawsuits arising from single-sex work environments. Attempts to fit the decision within traditional Title VII jurisprudence inevitably will be clouded by conjecture about Scalia's true intent. Indeed, after one year of experience with Oncale, the judicial record is …

Civil Rights Without Remedies: Vicarious Liability Under Title Vii, Section 1983, And Title Ix, Catherine Fisk, Erwin Chemerinsky

William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal

The Supreme Court has taken an inconsistent approach to allowing vicarious liability under major civil rights statutes. In recent cases, the Court has permitted qualified vicarious liability for supervisors' sexual harassment under Title VII, but rejected vicarious liability under Title IX. Earlier, the Court rejected vicarious liability for local governments sued under Section 1983. In this Article, Professors Fisk and Chemerinsky describe the Court's inconsistent approaches and argue that they cannot bejustfied by the text or legislative history of these statutes. Professors Fisk and Chemerinsky argue that each of these statutes is meant to achieve the same purpose, deterring civil …

More Than A Congressional Joke: A Fresh Look At The Legislative History Of Sex Discrimination Of The 1964 Civil Rights Act, Robert C. Bird

William & Mary Journal of Race, Gender, and Social Justice

No abstract provided.

Ethnicity And Prejudice: Reevaluating "National Origin" Discrimination Under Title Vii, Juan F. Perea

William & Mary Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Second Decade Of Title Vii: Refinement Of The Remedies

William & Mary Law Review

No abstract provided.

Little Red Reasonable Woman And The Big Bad Bully: Expansion Of Title Vii And The Larger Problem Of Workplace Abuse, Jacquelynne M. Jordan

William & Mary Journal of Race, Gender, and Social Justice

No abstract provided.