Law Commons^™

Third Generation Discrimination: The Ripple Effects Of Gender Bias In The Workplace, Catherine Ross Dunham

Akron Law Review

This Article joins together threads of ongoing conversations regarding implicit bias and gender discrimination. The Article builds on the groundbreaking work of Susan Sturm of Columbia University who developed the theory of second generation gender discrimination, Title VII gender discrimination based on implicit bias, in her article Second Generation Employment Discrimination: A Structural Approach, 101 Colum. L. Rev. 458 (2001). In her article, Sturm developed a theory to pursue Title VII claims where the employment practice at issue is facially-neutral, but the effect of the policy in a bias-based, homogeneous work environment is discriminatory. Since 2001, several high profile …

Clarifying Stereotyping, Kerri Lynn Stone

Kerri Stone

This Article addresses the largely undefined, misunderstood-yet-often-resorted-to concept of “stereotyping” as a basis for, or sufficient evidence of, liability for employment discrimination. Since, the concept’s genesis in Supreme Court jurisprudence in 1989, Price Waterhouse v. Hopkins, plaintiffs have proffered remarks alleged to be tinged with, or indicating the presence of, impermissible stereotypes as evidence of discrimination based on protected-class status – be that sex, race, color, religion, or national origin – in contravention of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The Article examines the language in Hopkins and its precise mandates and guidance for lower courts. It …

From Queen Bees And Wannabes To Worker Bees: Why Gender Considerations Should Inform The Emerging Law Of Workplace Bullying, Kerri Lynn Stone

Kerri Stone

This Article submits that the documented phenomenon of workplace bullying operates to stymie the retention and advancement of women in the workplace Research documented in books like Queen Bees and Wannabes shows that as early as the schoolyard, males and females tend to socialize differently, engage in and resolve conflict with peers differently, and absorb bullying behavior differently. Girls often believe or are taught to believe that direct conflict or confrontation is unpalatable and tend to employ more passive aggressive means of engagement with foes. They often internalize and repress feelings that boys are more likely to express. Viewing the …

Reckless Discrimination, Stephanie Bornstein

UF Law Faculty Publications

If there are known, easily adopted ways to reduce bias in employment decisions, should an employer be held liable for discriminatory results when it fails to adopt such measures? Given the vast amount we now know about implicit bias and the ways to reduce it, to what extent is an employer who knowingly fails to do so engaging in intentional discrimination? This Article theorizes a “recklessness” model of discrimination under Title VII, arguing for liability where an employer acts with reckless disregard for the consequences of implicit bias and stereotyping in employment decisions. Legal scholars have argued that Title VII …

Pushback: Title Vii Takes On Hobby Lobby, Carole Okolowicz

DePaul Journal of Women, Gender and the Law

In Hobby Lobby, the U.S. Supreme Court decided that a for-profit corporation could avoid the requirement under the Affordable Care Act that it pay for coverage of female contraception in the employee health plan due to the employer’s religious objections to birth control. In so deciding, the Court allowed the employer to discriminate against its female employees in their employee benefits. Such a decision raises the possibility of a claim of sex discrimination by the corporation’s female employees under Title VII. This article explores the main issues and pitfalls in such a claim.

The two main issues with the possible …

Amicus Curiae Brief Of Equality Ohio In Support Of Intervenor Urging Reversal, Doron M. Kalir, Kenneth J. Kowalski

Law Faculty Briefs and Court Documents

Title VII’s plain language bars discharge of “any individual”—whether transgender or not—“because of such individual’s . . . sex.” It applies whenever employers take gender into account in making employment decisions. It is undisputed that the employer in this case based his decision to terminate Ms. Stephens solely on sex-based considerations. To be sure, he could have terminated Ms. Stephens for a wide array of reasons—tardiness, failure to perform, disciplinary issues—or for no reason at all. Under those circumstances, such termination—even of a transgender person—would not be “because of such individual’s sex.” But that is not the case here. Here, …

Speaking Of Workplace Harassment: A First Amendment Push Toward A Status-Blind Statute Regulating "Workplace Bullying", Jessica R. Vartanian

Maine Law Review

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 makes discrimination in employment unlawful, but only based on certain suspect classes: race, color, religion, sex, and national origin. Courts have interpreted the statute to ban workplace harassment in this same limited fashion, refusing to recognizg harassment claims based on sexual orientation or any other unspecified classification.Although Congress may regulate in this selective manner consistent with equal protection, workplace harassment differs from other forms of discrimination proscribed under Title VII in one very important respect—workplace harassment is often achieved through an array of expression traditionally protected under the First Amendment

Workplace Discrimination And The Inefficiency Of The Ellerth/Faragher Defense, Kimberly F. Medina

Brigham Young University Prelaw Review

This article addresses the growing problem of workplace discrimination. Even though a few states have implemented laws requiring employers to train their employees on workplace discrimination, the number of discrimination claims has continued to rise each year. In 1998 the Supreme Court ruled on two important cases regarding workplace discrimination. Their opinion on these cases established what is known as the Ellerth/Faragher defense. The Ellerth/Faragher defense sets standards that an employer must meet to claim affirmative defense in cases of illegal discrimination. This article argues that the current standards set in this defense are flawed and need to be updated. …

Transgender Rights Without A Theory Of Gender?, Paisley Currah

Publications and Research

Why do courts and legislatures ban discrimination based on gender, and increasingly, gender identity, but exempt grooming and dress codes from the protections these laws offer? I argue that culpability for the courts’ and legislatures’ defense of hegemonic gender norms cannot be assigned to transgender rights movement, as some have done. These norms do not regulate only transgender people, they are not minoritizing—and neither should be the politics that seeks to transform them. The thought experiment of this review essay was to sever the analysis of particular political strategies from various assumptions about what gender really is. Agreement on the …

Administrative Leave As An Adverse Action For Title Vii Retaliation: New Principles For Liability Call For New Updates To Policy, Zachary R. Cormier

Northern Illinois University Law Review

The time has come for employers and their attorneys to recognize that placing an employee on paid administrative leave, pending an investigation (or otherwise), has become a riskier proposition under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Numerous courts have held that a paid administrative leave, in most cases, will not constitute an “adverse employment action” as required by Title VII's discrimination provision. But herein lies the danger for employers making the decision on a paid administrative leave-- such relative security no longer applies to retaliation claims under Title VII. The warnings from federal circuit courts over the …

Frontiers Of Sex Discrimination Law, Jessica A. Clarke

Michigan Law Review

Review Gender Nonconformity and the Law by Kimberly A. Yuracko.

Against Gay Potemkin Villages: Title Vii And Sexual Orientation Discrimination, Anthony Michael Kreis

All Faculty Scholarship

Should Title VII allow employers to invoke a “love the sin, hate the sinner” defense to escape liability for firing lesbians, gays, and bisexuals? According to one prominent federal judge, the answer is “yes.”This Essay examines federal judges’ evolving and correct recognition that sexual orientation discrimination claims are colorable under Title VII’s existing framework. The Essay compares the arguments concerning the actionability of sexual orientation claims laid forth in the Second Circuit (Christiansen v. Omnicom), the 7th Circuit (Hively v. Ivy Tech), and the Eleventh Circuit (Evans v. Georgia Regional Hospital).The Essay argues against the position taken by one member …

Transsexual, Transgender, Trans: Reading Judicial Nomenclature In Title Vii Cases, Kris Franklin, Sarah Chinn

Articles & Chapters

No abstract provided.

Make-Whole Or Make-Short? How Courts Have Misread Title Vii's Limitations Period To Truncate Relief In Eeoc Pattern-Or-Practice Cases, Sara A. Fairchild

American University Law Review

No abstract provided.

Employer Liability For Non-Employee Discrimination, Dallan F. Flake

Law Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

The Price Of Price Waterhouse: How Title Vii Reduces The Lives Of Lgbt Americans To Sex And Gender Stereotypes, Drew Culler

American University Journal of Gender, Social Policy & the Law

No abstract provided.

Supreme Court Denies Review In Gay Rights Case, Arthur S. Leonard

Other Publications

No abstract provided.

The Substantially Impaired Sex, Jennifer B. Shinall

Vanderbilt Law School Faculty Publications

In making the case for increased attention to and expanded legal remedies for disabled women who experience labor market discrimination, this Article proceeds as follows: Part I reviews previous work on intersectional discrimination, which, heretofore, has focused almost exclusively on the experience of African-American women. Part II examines the EEOC data, which details the universe of ADA charges filed with the agency from 2000 to 2009. The EEOC data make clear how men's and women's disability charges differ, and the data also provide a great deal of evidence as to why men's and women's disability charges differ. Part III considers …

Scotus Denies Review In Gay Rights Case, Arthur S. Leonard

Other Publications

No abstract provided.

A Battle Over Statutory Interpretation: Title Vii And Claims Of Sexual Orientation And Gender Identity Discrimination, Arthur S. Leonard

Other Publications

No abstract provided.

Same-Sex Sex And Immutable Traits: Why Obergefell V. Hodges Clears A Path To Protecting Gay And Lesbian Employees From Workplace Discrimination Under Title Vii, Matthew W. Green Jr.

Law Faculty Articles and Essays

This article is set forth in five parts. Part II is largely descriptive and focuses on two aspects of Obergefell: (1) the Court's clarification that adult, private, consensual, same-sex sexual intimacy is a fundamental right, protected by the U.S. Constitution's Fourteenth Amendment Due Process Clause and (2) the Court's recognition that leading mental health and medical groups consider sexual orientation to be immutable. Part III examines how courts and the EEOC have treated sexual orientation discrimination under Title VII and contains a normative discussion which argues—consistent with the position of other commentators, some courts, and the EEOC—that sexual orientation …

Overreach And Innovation In Equality Regulation, Olatunde C.A. Johnson

Faculty Scholarship

At a time of heightened concern about agency overreach, this Article highlights a less appreciated development in agency equality regulation. Moving beyond traditional bureaucratic forms of regulation, civil rights agencies in recent years have experimented with new forms of regulation to advance inclusion. This new "inclusive regulation" can be described as more open ended, less coercive, and more reliant on rewards, collaboration, flexibility, and interactive assessment than traditional modes of civil rights regulation. This Article examines the power and limits of this new inclusive regulation and suggests a framework for increasing the efficacy of these new modes of regulation.