Law Commons^™

Workplace Discrimination As A Public Health Issue: The Necessity Of Title Vii Protections For Volunteers, Elizabeth R. Langton

Fordham Law Review

What constitutes an employee is a recurring issue in U.S. employment law, especially with respect to volunteers. Under Title VII, an employee is defined as “an individual employed by an employer.” The U.S. Supreme Court has found that this definition is circular and explains nothing. Given the vague statutory definition of “employee,” circuit courts are split over the correct test to determine employee status for the purposes of Title VII.

Workplace discrimination is especially toxic because the majority of the adult population spends its waking hours at work. Thus far, courts have been focused on the individual nature of workplace …

Love They Neighbor: Should Religious Accommodations That Negatively Affect Coworkers' Shift Preferences Constitute And Undue Harship On The Employer Under Title Vii?, Rachel M. Birnbach

Fordham Law Review

In applying Title VII, courts are often confronted with proposed religious accommodations that would negatively affect other employees and must decide whether such an accommodation amounts to an undue hardship on the employer. However, there is a conflict among circuit courts over the scope of an employer’s duty to accommodate religious employees when doing so would negatively affect coworkers’ scheduling preferences, outside the context of a collective bargaining agreement. The conflict turns on whether courts consider any negative impact on coworkers to amount to impermissible preferential treatment, or whether they require that the defendant demonstrate a more severe impact on …

Targeting Workplace Context: Title Vii As A Tool For Institutional Reform, Tristin K. Green

Fordham Law Review

No abstract provided.

Job Segregation, Gender Blindness, And Employee Agency Symposium: Law, Labor, And Gender - New Perspectives On Labor And Gender, Tracy E. Higgins

Faculty Scholarship

Almost forty years after the enactment of Title VII, women's struggle for equality in the workplace continues. Although Title VII was intended to "break[] down old patterns of segregation and hierarchy," the American workplace remains largely gender-segregated. Indeed, more than one-third of all women workers are employed in occupations in which the percentage of women exceeds 80%. Even in disciplines in which women have made gains, top status (and top paying) jobs remain male-dominated while the lower status jobs are filled by women. This pattern of gender segregation, in turn, accounts for a substantial part of the persistent wage gap …

Helping Employers Help Themselves: Resolving The Conflict Between The Fair Credit Reporting Act And Title Vii, Meredith J. Fried

Fordham Law Review

No abstract provided.

A Title I Dilemma: May Disabled Former Employees Sue For Discrimination Regarding Post-Employment Benefits, Jason D. Myers

Fordham Law Review

No abstract provided.

Shattering The Myth: Mediating Sexual Harassment Disputes In The Workplace, Carrie A. Bond

Fordham Law Review

No abstract provided.

Beyond Sex Discrimination: A Proposal For Federal Sexual Harassment Legislation, Deborah N. Mcfarland

Fordham Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Circuit Split On Title Vii Personal Supervisor Liability, Ming K. Ayvas

Fordham Urban Law Journal

This Note examines the competing rationales for and against individual supervisor liability under Title VII, and concludes that supervisor liability is the better reasoned view. It explains how courts construe the term "employer" to either allow or disallow direct supervisor liability. It discusses the rationales for and against individual supervisor liability. It concludes that individual supervisor liability is the better reasoned view, on construction, policy and comparative grounds, and proposes joint and several liability for supervisors and employers in all Title VII cases, which will clarify when respondeat superior liability is appropriate under Title VII. This proposal will deter Title …

Denial Of Attorney's Fees For Claims Of Sexual Harassment Resolved Through Informal Dispute Resolution: A Shield For Employers, A Sword Against Women, Amy Holzman

Fordham Law Review

No abstract provided.

Parting Is Such Sweet Sorrow: The Application Of Title Vii To Post-Employment Retaliation, Patricia A. Moore

Fordham Law Review

No abstract provided.

Promoting Fairness: A Proposal For A More Reasonable Standard Of Constructive Discharge In Title Vii Denial Of Promotion Cases , Richard M. Deagazio

Fordham Urban Law Journal

The constructive discharge rule states that if intolerable working conditions associated with the employer's discrimination force the employee to resign, then the employee will be considered to have been "constructively" discharged on the date of resignation. The employee will be treated as if he or she had been fired by the employer and therefore is eligible for remedies traditionally associated with wrongful termination, such as reinstatement and backpay past the date of "discharge." If the employee has not been constructively discharged, then under the general rule the employee will only be entitled to preresignation backpay. In examples similar to this …

Fetal Protection And Uaw V. Johnson Controls, Inc.: Job Openings For Barren Women Only, Marcelo L. Riffaud

Fordham Law Review

No abstract provided.

Bringing A Title Vii Action: Which Test Regarding Standing To Sue Is The Most Applicable?, Valerie L. Jacobson

Fordham Urban Law Journal

This Note examines who is a proper plaintiff under Title VII and explains the need for a clearer definition of "employee" and "employed." Part II presents a historical development of the standards used to define employment relationships in Title VII. Part III discusses the general requirements for standing and sets forth the tests currently used to determine standing for a Title VII action. Part IV analyzes how the tests can produce different outcomes and why some tests more adequately serve the Act's goals. The Note concludes that Congress should amend the definition of "employee" or at least define what constitutes …

Voluntary Affirmative Action Plans By Public Employers: The Disparity In Standards Between Title Vii And The Equal Protection Clause, Ronald W. Adelman

Fordham Law Review

No abstract provided.

Private Clubs And Employment Discrimination: Does Federal Law Apply?, Elyse Hilton

Fordham Urban Law Journal

This Note examines the general history and function of Title VII and section 1981 of the civil rights law. The author discusses the problems inherent in defining an organization as a private club, for purposes of employment non-discrimination efforts. The Note examines statutory construction and legislative history, as well as case law to assess arguments as to whether Title VII impliedly amends section 1981 with respect to the private club exemption. The author argues that membership discrimination cases in the case law differ radically from employment discrimination cases, which address entirely different sets of rights. The argument concludes therefore that …

Business Necessity In Title Viii: Importing An Employment Discrimination Doctrine Into The Fair Housing Act, Christopher P. Mccormack

Fordham Law Review

No abstract provided.

Marternity Leave: Taking Sex Differences Into Account, Nancy E. Dowd

Fordham Law Review

No abstract provided.

Stotts' Denial Of Hiring And Promotion Preferences For Nonvictims: Draining The "Spirit" From Title Vii, Mary C. Daly

Fordham Urban Law Journal

The author questions whether the dicta in a recent Supreme Court case, Local Union No. 1784 v. Stotts, effectively narrow the scope of relief available under Title VII to non-victims. Specifically, the Court addressed affirmative action and the possible reparations under a Title VII employment race discrimination class action. The dicta in question appear to limit courts' ability to grant relief to "non-victims" (individuals who were not named parties in an employment discrimination suit) in the form of consent decrees or post-trial injunctive relief. The author examines Supreme Court caselaw on affirmative action, the legislative history of the 1964 Civil …

Challenges To Employment Testing Under Title Vii: Creating "Built In Headwinds" For The Civil Service Employer, Ellen Zweig

Fordham Urban Law Journal

Since the Supreme Court held in Griggs that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits employers from using employment selection systems which are not job-related or which act as "built in headwinds" for minorities, employment tests have been subject to more challenges in courtrooms. Since Griggs, courts have presumed employment tests challenged pursuant to Title VII to be invalid once the plaintiffs establish that the tests produce an adverse impact upon minorities. However, these courts have not suggested many alternative methods of testing and those that have been suggested are generally unworkable for employers who must comply …

Beyond The Fcn Treaty: Japanese Multinationals Under Title Vii, Stacey M. Rosner

Fordham Law Review

No abstract provided.

Selecting A Remedy For Private Racial Discrimination: Statutes In Search Of Scope, John M. Peterson

Fordham Urban Law Journal

Racial discrimination in the United States has been effectively attacked in both the legislatures and the courts for over a hundred years. Enslavement of blacks in the American South prompted adoption of the thirteenth amendment and the Reconstruction Civil Rights Acts enacted pursuant to the amendment’s enabling clause. These laws sought primarily to elevate the status of the black freedman by granting him rights equal to those enjoyed by white citizens. The most far-reaching of these statutes is 42 U.S.C. § 1981, derived from the Civil Rights Act of 1866, which insures to all persons the same right to make …

After Albemarle: Class-Wide Recovery Of Back Pay Under Title Vii, B. Martin Druyan

Fordham Urban Law Journal

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 provides administrative and judicial remedies for victims of discrimination in employment. Employers, engaged in “an industry affecting commerce” and having fifteen or more employees who work at least twenty weeks out of the year, are subject to the statutes strictures. Unions are also subject to the statute if they have fifteen or more members, operate an office or hiring hall, and represent employees. One remedy available under Title VII is an award of back pay from the date of the alleged violation. Back pay may be defined as court-awarded compensation for …

Title Vii Of The Civil Rights Act Of 1964- Seniority Provisions Of Union Collective Bargaining Agreement Held Controlling Over Eeoc Affirmative Action Hiring Program. Jersey Central Power & Light Co. V. Local 327, Ibew, 508 F.2d 687 (3d Cir. 1975)., Ira E. Goldberg

Fordham Urban Law Journal

Plaintiff, Jersey Central Power & Light Company (Jersey Central), a large public utility, was economically forced to announce a series of plant wide layoffs. The collective bargaining agreement in force between Jersey Central and various unions required that layoffs be conducted in reverse order of seniority, i.e., the last person hired is the first person to be fired. A conciliation agreement among Jersey Central, the unions and the Federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) called for the company to begin an affirmative action program designed to increase employment opportunities for women and minority workers. Plaintiff sought a declaratory judgment in …