Civil Rights and Discrimination Commons^™

Uaw V. Johnson Controls: The Supreme Court Fails To Get The Lead Out, Overlooks Fetal Harm Resulting From Workplace Exposure, John M. Tkacik Jr.

Cleveland State Law Review

UAW v. Johnson Controls, Inc., recently decided by the United States Supreme Court, has resulted in what one commentator described as "[t]he strongest and most important sex-discrimination victory in nearly 30 years." As a result of the decision, employers can no longer bar women from hazardous jobs through fetal-protection policies, except under the most extreme and narrow circumstances. This legal victory for women in the workplace, however, has seriously impacted the debate over the protection of fetal health and safety. The Supreme Court, in a seemingly encore presentation of Roe, again overlooked the harm facing the unborn child in Johnson …

The Silenced Majority: Martin V. Wilks And The Legislative Response, Susan Grover

Faculty Publications

An American worker finds himself disadvantaged by an employer's affirmative action program. The worker heads for the courthouse, reverse discrimination complaint in hand. Will he be allowed to sue? Prior to the Supreme Court's 1989 Martin v. Wilks decision, the answer to that question tended to be "no." Wilks changed the answer to an emphatic ·yes." With the 1991 Civil Rights Act, the answer has become "probably not." This article discusses the bar against such challenges as developed through case law and recent congressional action. It addresses the implications that the new statutory bar will have for the structure of …

Supreme Court Philosophy On Labor And Employment Issues, Theodore J. St. Antoine

Other Publications

It would not take a confirmed cynic to suggest that the title of this paper amounts to an oxymoron. That soft-hearted but tough-minded commentator, Florian Bartosic, and his collaborator, Gary Minda, came close to putting it in so many words: " [T]he Supreme Court lacks a consistent and coherent theory of labor law" (1982). My own view is somewhat different. First, lack of a consistent judicial philosophy is not all bad; at least it is better than a consistently wrong philosophy. Second, the vacillating theories of the Supreme Court tend to reflect the divergent attitudes of American society toward labor …

Race, Gender, And Sexual Harassment, Kimberlé W. Crenshaw

Faculty Scholarship

I would like to thank Anita Hill and express my deep respect to her for having the courage to shatter the silence on sexual harassment. I am certain that I speak for millions of women in saying that I have been inspired and renewed by her strength and integrity.

I have looked forward to addressing you tonight on a critical issue at this very important juncture in our political history. Sexual harassment has captured our attention over the last several weeks and has of course galvanized women in a way that scarcely could have been imagined only a few short …

Two (Federal) Wrongs Make A (State) Right: State Class Action Procedures As An Alternative To The Opt-In Class Action Provisions Of The Adea, Janet M. Bowermaster

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

This Article argues that the opt-in class action of the ADEA is an anachronism and that age-discrimination litigants can take advantage of the broader protection afforded to Title VII litigants by bringing their ADEA suits as Rule 23 class actions in state courts. A comparison of the two statutes reveals similar purposes and nearly identical substantive provisions, but procedural provisions that provide less protection to victims of age discrimination, including widely disparate class-action provisions.

The Second Circuit's Employment Discrimination Cases: An Uncertain Welcome (St. John's Law Review, Vol. 65, Issue 3 (Summer 1991), Pp. 839-874), Lewis M. Steel '63, Miriam F. Clark

Articles and Writings

No abstract provided.

Employment Discrimination, Peter Reed Corbin, John E. Duvall

Mercer Law Review

In what no doubt will prove to be the calm before the storm, the number of cases decided in the area of employment discrimination during the 1990 survey period decreased significantly, both in the United States Supreme Court and in the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. The decline in the number of Supreme Court pronouncements is not surprising, since the succession of landmark cases decided in the previous two years was truly remarkable, and such a pace realistically could not have continued. It also appears as if the Eleventh Circuit held back, waiting to see whether …

Judicial And Adminstrative Enforcement Of Individual Rights Under The National Labor Relations Act And Under The Labor-Management Relations Act Between 1935 And 1990 - An Historical And Empirical Analysis Of Unsettled Intercircuit And Intracircuit Conflicts, Willy E. Rice

Faculty Articles

This Article is concerned with exploring the extent to which both the National Labor Relations Act of 1935 and the Labor-Management Relations Act of 1947 have protected individual employees' rights in administrative and judicial proceedings.

Feminizing Unions: Challenging The Gendered Structure Of Wage Labor, Marion Crain

Michigan Law Review

In this article, I argue that labor unions can be an effective, central tool in a feminist agenda targeting the gendered structure of wage labor. Collective action is the most powerful and expedient route to female empowerment; further, it is the only feasible means of transforming our deeply gendered market and family structure. Others have laid the groundwork by showing how existing individual-model challenges have been unable to accomplish such broad-based reform. I begin where they leave off.

Title Vii As Censorship: Hostile Environment Harassment And The First Amendment, Kingsley R. Browne

Law Faculty Research Publications

No abstract provided.

Voluntary Affirmative Action In Employment For Women And Minorities Under Title Vii Of The Civil Rights Act: Extending Possibilities For Employers To Engage In Preferential Treatment To Achieve Equal Employment Opportunity, 24 J. Marshall L. Rev. 731 (1991), Chris Engels

UIC Law Review

No abstract provided.

Flimsy Precedent And Narrow Vision: A Call For Congressional Amendment Of Title Vii And The Ada In Response To Boureslan, Monique C. Lillard

Articles

No abstract provided.

Workplace Discrimination: Truthfulness And The Moral Imagination, Emily Calhoun

Publications

No abstract provided.

The Changing Nature Of Employment Discrimination Litigation, Peter Siegelman, John J. Donohue Iii

Faculty Articles and Papers

Two major pieces of employment discrimination legislation were passed in the early 1990s: the 1991 Civil Rights Act and Americans with Disabilities Act. Using some simple regression models, we examine the effects of this legislation on the volume, content and outcomes of employment discrimination cases filed in federal courts. We find, first, that the volume of discrimination cases nearly doubled between 1992 and 1997, in contrast to a 10 percent decline during the previous 8 years, and despite a sharply falling unemployment rate that–in the past–would have substantially reduced the amount of litigation. We also observe a significant shift in …

Hiv Positive Employees As Handicapped Persons Under State And Federal Law: West Virginia Follows The Trend To Cast Aside Irrational Fear And Prejudice In Favor Of Competent Medical Evidence And Sound Public Policy, Frank W. Volk

West Virginia Law Review

No abstract provided.

Public Remedies For Private Wrongs: Rethinking The Title Vii Back Pay Remedy, Minna J. Kotkin

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Runyon Reconsidered: The Future Of Section 1981 As A Basis For Employment Discrimination Claims, Barbara L. Kramer

Cleveland State Law Review

On April 25, 1988, the Supreme Court ignited a controversy by announcing that it would reconsider' its ruling in Runyon v. McCrary, a landmark 1976 civil rights decision, in a case currently before the Court, Patterson v. McClean Credit Union. Runyon affirmed the right of certain minority groups to sue private entities for unlawful discrimination under 42 U.S.C. Section 1981. Patterson calls into question the origin of the present Section 1981. This Note discusses the elements of the controversy unleashed by the Court: the origin and operation of the present Section 1981 and its relation to Title VII of the …

Civil Rights In Employment: The New Generation, Linda H. Edwards

Scholarly Works

In July 1989, Title VII was twenty-five years old. It is generally assumed that the first twenty-five years have seen significant changes in the economic opportunities available to America’s minorities and women. But with the rise to power of the Reagan appointees, the Supreme Court is clearly fashioning a new approach to issues of civil rights in employment. This article analyzes the new Court’s emerging themes and proposes a congressional response.

English-Only Rules And The Right To Speak One's Primary Language In The Workplace, Juan F. Perea

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

This Article analyzes the issues raised by English-only rules and the decisions discussing these rules. Part I reviews the leading cases on English-only rules. The Article then explores several issues that must be considered in deciding any English-only rule case under Title VII. Part II addresses whether speaking one's primary language should constitute a protected right as an aspect of national origin under Title VII. This Article argues that primary language should be protected under Title VII for several reasons: the courts and the EEOC construe the term "national origin" broadly; primary language constitutes a fundamental aspect of ethnicity and …

Studying The Iceberg From Its Tip: A Comparison Of Published And Unpublished Employment Discrimination Cases, Peter Siegelman, John J. Donohue Iii

Faculty Articles and Papers

Researchers often rely on published opinions to draw conclusions about cases decided by the courts, determinants of court decisions, and broader social phenomena. We demonstrate that 80 to 90 percent of employment discrimination cases filed in federal court do not produce a published opinion. There are good theoretical reasons to believe that the process generating a published opinion is not random and thus that samples of published cases will not be representative of all cases. Through a direct comparison of published and unpublished cases, we show that the two actually do differ in significant and predictable ways. Examining several studies …

Proving Discrimination After Price Waterhouse And Wards Cove, Candace Kovacic-Fleischer

Scholarly Articles in Law Reviews & Journals

INTRODUCTION Anyone involved in litigation under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 19641 or similar state statutes may wonder what is entailed in proving or disproving discrimination after the United States Supreme Court's October 1988 Term. In fact, in the pending Civil Rights Act of 1990, Congress is considering reversing some of what the Supreme Court did during that Term. One of the issues that the Supreme Court addressed during the 1988 Term involved allocating burdens of proof in two major types of Title VII claims, dis- parate-treatment and disparate-impact. Price Waterhouse v. Hopkins, dealt with a disparate-treatment …

Challenging Discriminatory Guesswork: Does Impact Analysis Apply, Michael A. Middleton

Faculty Publications

This article initially examines the traditional theories of proof in Title VII cases. It then discusses approaches by lower courts in resolving the competing concerns raised in applying those traditional theories in challenges to subjective selection devices. This article next discusses the Supreme Court's resolution of the problem in Watson and suggests a workable alternative resolution that will not undermine the broad prophylactic purposes of Title VII.

Finding A "Manifest Imbalance": The Case For A Unified Statistical Test For Voluntary Affirmative Action Under Title Vii, David D. Meyer

Michigan Law Review

This Note analyzes the "manifest imbalance" standard developed in Weber and Johnson and the various approaches the lower courts have taken in trying to apply the test. Part I examines the Weber and Johnson opinions in some detail, and argues that the Court intended to permit affirmative action aimed at remedying the evident effects of past discrimination, regardless of whether the employer or society at large is to blame. Section I.A describes the diverging constitutional and statutory standards for evaluating voluntary affirmative action programs, and the policies behind the divergence. Sections I.B and I.C take a closer look at the …

American Women Face Discrimination In Seeking Employment With And Working For Japanese Companies Operating In The United States, Percy R. Luney Jr.

North Carolina Central Law Review

No abstract provided.

Fetal Protection And The Exclusion Of Women From The Toxic Workplace, Allyson K. Duncan

North Carolina Central Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Steelworkers' Trilogy And The Coal Miners' Trilogy: Is Discrimination An Exception To The Rule, Steven P. Mcgowan, Robert J. Schiavoni

West Virginia Law Review

No abstract provided.

"Discrimination" On The Basis Of Religion: An Examination Of Attempted Value Neutrality In Employment, Laura S. Underkuffler

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Circumventing Racism: Confronting The Problem Of The Affirmative Action Ideology, Christopher T. Wonnell

BYU Law Review

No abstract provided.

Clearing The Mixed-Motive Smokescreen: An Approach To Disparate Treatment Under Title Vii, Robert S. Whitman

Michigan Law Review

Part I of this Note describes the indirect-evidence inquiry of McDonnell Douglas and its basis in the policies underlying Title VII. Part II presents the various judicial treatments of cases where direct evidence is presented. These three major approaches reflect varying views of the burdens of proof regarding Title VII causation, and assume that the plaintiff has already shown some palpable level of discrimination. Part III describes Mt. Healthy City School District Board of Education v. Doyle, in which the Supreme Court first devised an approach to mixed motives. Although the Mt. Healthy analysis was developed for first amendment …

Future Disabilities Under New York’S Human Rights Law, Andrea Lisa Leeb

Cardozo Law Review

No abstract provided.