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Education And The Equal Status Acts - Stokes -V- Christian Brothers High School Clonmel, Mel Cousins
Education And The Equal Status Acts - Stokes -V- Christian Brothers High School Clonmel, Mel Cousins
Mel Cousins
This case involved a challenge under the Equal Status Act (ESA) to the admissions rules of a Clonmel secondary school which, it was argued, indirectly discriminated against children from the Traveller community. At first instance (before the Equality Tribunal) and on appeal to the Circuit Court it had been held that this rule did have a disproportionate impact on Travellers but the Court and Tribunal differed as to whether this was objectively justified or not. On further appeal to the High Court, McCarthy J. held that there was no disproportionate impact as, adopting a dictionary definition of the term ‘particular’, …
Pension ‘Splitting’, Property Rights, Equality And The Canadian Charter Of Rights - Runchey V. Canada (Attorney General), 2013 Fca 16, Mel Cousins
Mel Cousins
This note discusses the decision of the Federal Court of Appeal in Runchey v. Canada (Attorney General). The case concerned an equality challenge concerning provisions of the Canada Pension Plan (the Plan) under s. 15 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Fundamental Freedoms. This was dismissed by the Court. However, the main focus of this note is to point out that it is arguable that the main issue raised in the case (i.e. the loss of pension rights by one spouse without any gain to the other) is not a s. 15 equality issue but rather an unjust deprivation …
Rational Basis With Bite In Minnesota: Unemployment Benefits And Personal-Care Assistants, Mel Cousins
Rational Basis With Bite In Minnesota: Unemployment Benefits And Personal-Care Assistants, Mel Cousins
Mel Cousins
The Minnesota court of appeals has recently come to an interesting decision on equal protection and insurability of workers, ruling – in Weir v ACCRA Care - that the exclusion of certain personal care assistants (PCA) from the unemployment insurance scheme was in breach of the Minnesota equal protection guarantee. This note examines this recent decision, contrasting it with the approach under the federal equal protection clause. The case is one of a number in different jurisdictions in which less favorable treatment of ‘family member’ carers has been struck down under equal protection and human rights law.
Freedom Of Speech And The ‘Occupy’ Protests: ‘Narrowly Tailored To Further Significant Government Interests’, Mel Cousins
Freedom Of Speech And The ‘Occupy’ Protests: ‘Narrowly Tailored To Further Significant Government Interests’, Mel Cousins
Mel Cousins
This note examines the spate of recent court decisions concerning efforts by Occupy protestors in various cities of the USA to prevent the removal (or restriction) of their protests. In general, though by no means in all cases, the courts, applying existing freedom of speech principles, have upheld the protestors’ right to protest to some extent but have placed narrow limits around the manner in which this right may be exercised. Following a short introduction (Part 1), Part 2 discuses the approach which has been taken by the courts in recent cases. The approach adopted contrasts sharply with the Supreme …
Equal Protection, Workers Compensation And Offset Of Benefits (Again) – Caldwell V Maco Workers Compensation And Caputo V Workers’ Compensation Appeal Board (Commonwealth Of Pennsylvania)
Mel Cousins
As noted in an earlier article, one issue which has received considerable attention in terms of equal protection challenges in US courts is that concerning the offset of one type of social security benefits with worker’s compensation payments. The Supreme Court in Richardson v Belcher upheld the reduction in social security disability insurance because of receipt of a state worker’s compensation payment as rationally based and free from invidious discrimination. The Court and various federal courts of appeals have subsequently shown little interest in subjecting such offset provisions to more than a minimal level of scrutiny. State courts have also …