Civil Rights and Discrimination Commons^™

The Causation Standard In Federal Employment Law: Gross V. Fbl Financial Services, Inc., And The Unfulfilled Promise Of The Civil Rights Act Of 1991, Michael C. Harper

Buffalo Law Review

No abstract provided.

Discrimination Redefined, Ann C. Mcginley

Scholarly Works

In this Response to Professor Natasha Martin's article Pretext in Peril, Professor Ann McGinley argues that courts' retrenchment in cases interpreting Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act results from a narrow definition of discrimination that focuses on conscious, intentional discrimination. Increasingly social science research demonstrates that much disparate treatment occurs as a result of unconscious biases, but the courts' reluctance to consider this social science has led, in many cases, to a literal, narrow definition of “pretext." Moreover, she posits that the recent Supreme Court case of Ricci v. DeStefano redefines discrimination in an ahistorical and acontextual …

In Search Of The Reasonable Woman: Anti-Discrimination Rhetoric In The United States, Francis J. Mootz Iii

Scholarly Works

This article emerged from my participation in a Symposium addressing global perspectives on the topic, "Anti-Discrimination Discourse and Practices," sponsored by The Jean Monnet Chair of European Law at Cagliari University, Sardinia. The article examines the rhetorical development of the "reasonable woman" standard of hostile work environment sexual harassment under Title VII. I argue that the rhetorical framing of the standard has unnecessarily limited its impact, perhaps to the point of undermining its potential to radically revise our understanding of gender discrimination. I suggest how the rhetorical power of the standard might be recovered.

Ricci V. Destefano: A Masculinities Theory Analysis, Ann C. Mcginley

Scholarly Works

This Article applies masculinity theory to explore the aspects Ricci v. Destefano and its political reverberations. Empirical evidence showed that virtually all written tests have a disparate impact on minorities, that a neighboring city had reached less discriminatory results using a different weighting system, and that other fire departments used assessment centers to judge firefighters' qualifications for promotions. While the black male and all female firefighters were made invisible by the case and the testimony, the fact that Ricci's and Vargas' testimony lionized a particularly traditional form of heterosexual masculinity was also invisible. While the command presence required of a …

Detecting The Stealth Erosion Of Precedent: Affirmative Action After Ricci, Sachin S. Pandya

Faculty Articles and Papers

This paper presents a method for detecting stealth precedent erosion, i.e., when an appellate court majority deliberately writes the opinion in case y to reduce the scope of its precedent x, but does not expressly refer to precedent x in the opinion. Applying this method, the paper provides a strong basis for concluding that in Ricci v. DeStefano (2009), a United States Supreme Court case decided under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Court majority eroded by stealth United Steelworkers of America v. Weber (1979), and Johnson v. Transportation Agency (1987), both cases that read Title …

Race, Sex And Genes At Work: Uncovering The Lessons Of Norman-Bloodsaw, Elizabeth Pendo

All Faculty Scholarship

The Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008 (“GINA”) is the first federal, uniform protection against the use of genetic information in both the workplace and health insurance. Signed into law on May 21, 2008, GINA prohibits an employer or health insurer from acquiring or using an individual’s genetic information, with some exceptions. One of the goals of GINA is to eradicate actual, or perceived, discrimination based on genetic information in the workplace and in health insurance. Although the threat of genetic discrimination is often discussed in universal terms - as something that could happen to any of us - the …

Teaching International Law: Lessons From Clinical Education: Introductory Remarks, Richard J. Wilson

Scholarly Articles in Law Reviews & Journals

No abstract provided.

Sidelined: Title Ix Retaliation Cases And Women's Leadership In College Athletics, Erin E. Buzuvis

Faculty Scholarship

Discrimination against women seeking or serving in leadership positions in sport is worthy of analysis, not only for the sake of individual women who desire to self-actualize as a head coach or athletic administrator, but because the unique role of sport in society gives underrepresentation of women in leadership positions additional significance. Due to its high visibility and widespread appeal—its veritable iconic status—sport is a salient site of cultural production. That is, sport operates on a symbolic level, reflecting and transmitting shared cultural values. Among these values, sport helps define the attributes associated with leadership, and thus, derivatively, power. By …

Black And Brown Coalition Building During The Post-Racial Obama Era, Karla M. Mckanders

Vanderbilt Law School Faculty Publications

This essay explores how the past Civil Rights Movement and discrimination against persons of color, mainly Latinos and African Americans, can help to address current forms of discrimination in our country. In particular, since the election of the first African American President, who also has immigrant parents, many people have claimed that we have reached a “post-racial” America. In the new post-racial America, proponents claim that the pre-Civil Rights Movement racial caste system of the sixties has been eradicated. In this context, this essay seeks to explore whether there is any link between the past experiences of African Americans with …

The Supreme Court's Post-Racial Turn Towards A Zero-Sum Understanding Of Equality, Helen Norton

Publications

The Supreme Court--along with the rest of the country--has long divided over the question whether the United States has yet achieved a 'post-racial" society in which race no longer matters in significant ways. How, if at all, this debate is resolved carries enormous implications for constitutional and statutory antidiscrimination law. Indeed, a post-racial discomfort with noticing and acting upon race supports a zero-sum approach to equality: if race no longer matters to the distribution of life opportunities, a decision maker's concern for the disparities experienced by members of one racial group may be seen as inextricable from its intent to …

Pretext In Peril, Natasha T. Martin

Faculty Articles

This Article addresses the connections among substance, procedure, and equality in the American workplace. Exploring the deepening struggle for plaintiffs under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, this Article seeks to add clarity to an enduring quandary—why does Title VII fail to combat the prejudicial disparate treatment it was designed to eradicate? This Article offers a critique of the hardships shouldered by plaintiffs in proving contemporary workplace discrimination.

Challenging the seemingly unfettered discretion of the courts in evaluating claims of workplace bias, this Article pursues the interplay of procedural and substantive law to expose how courts "chip …

Sharing The Stage: Using Title Vii To End Discrimination Against Female Playwrights On Broadway, Marisa Rothstein

Cardozo Journal of Equal Rights & Social Justice

No abstract provided.

Reply: Good Intentions Matter, Katharine T. Bartlett

Faculty Scholarship

While writing the article to which Professors Mitchell and Bielby have published responses, I was mindful of the many ways in which the article could be misinterpreted. In taking issue with the assumption that legal controls work in a direct, linear manner to deter crimination, I thought I might be misunderstood to say that people are not responsive to incentives. In worrying about how legal sanctions exert external pressure that may crowd out the inclination of well-intentioned people to self-monitor for bias, I feared that the article would be read mistakenly to oppose strong and appropriate legal rules against discrimination. …

Regulating The Use Of Genetic Information: Perspective From The U.S. Experience, Pauline Kim

Scholarship@WashULaw

This essay comments on an empirical study documenting the policies, practices, and attitudes of Australian employers regarding the use of genetic information from the U.S. perspective. The U.S. Congress recently enacted the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008 (GINA), which, among other things, prohibits employment discrimination on the basis of genetic information and restricts employers’ access to their employees’ genetic information. Just as the Australian study found no evidence of systematic use of genetic testing or screening by employers, GINA was passed in the absence of any evidence of widespread employment discrimination on the basis of genetic characteristics. Although it …

Employment Law - Antidiscrimination - Heading Toward Federal Protection For Sexual Orientation Discrimination?, Matthew Barker

University of Arkansas at Little Rock Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Hundred-Years War: The Ongoing Battle Between Courts And Agencies Over The Right To Interpret Federal Law, Nancy M. Modesitt

All Faculty Scholarship

Since the Supreme Court’s 1984 Chevron decision, the primary responsibility for interpreting federal statutes has increasingly resided with federal agencies in the first instance rather than with the federal courts. In 2005, the Court reinforced this approach by deciding National Telecommunications Ass'n v. Brand X Internet Services, which legitimized the agency practice of interpreting federal statutes in a manner contrary to the federal courts' established interpretation, so long as the agency interpretation is entitled to deference under the well-established Chevron standard. In essence, agencies are free to disregard federal court precedent in these circumstances. This Article analyzes the question left …

Testimony On The Employment Non-Discrimination Act (Enda) And The Religious Exemption : Hearing Before The H. Comm. On Education And Labor, 111th Cong., Sept. 23, 2009 (Statement Of Adjunct Professor David N. Saperstein, Geo. U. L. Center), David N. Saperstein

Testimony Before Congress

We are long past the point when our laws should permit discrimination against any individual because of their sexual orientation. Just as we do not tolerate behavior that discriminates based on race, gender, national origin or religion, so should we be clear about discrimination based on the characteristic of being gay or lesbian. For many of America’s faith traditions, this is a religious value. It is a moral value. And for all of us, it is of great social and economic value, as evidenced by the nearly 90% of Fortune 500 companies that already have policies consistent with ENDA. They …

How Many Plaintiffs Are Enough? Venue In Title Vii Class Actions, Piper Hoffman

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

This Article critiques the recent rash of federal district court opinions holding that all named plaintiffs in a class action lawsuit alleging employment discrimination under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 must satisfy the venue requirements in the court where they filed the action. Neither the text nor the history of Title VII requires this prevailing interpretation; to the contrary, requiring every named plaintiff to satisfy venue requirements in the same court undermines the legislative purpose behind both Title VII and Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23 by creating a new obstacle to employees seeking to enforce …

Height Discrimination In Employment, Isaac B. Rosenberg

W&M Law Student Publications

This Article looks critically at heightism, i.e., prejudice or discrimination against a person on the basis of his or her height. Although much scholarship has focused on other forms of trait-based discrimination—most notably weight and appearance discrimination, both of which indirectly involve height as a component—little has focused on “pure” height discrimination. Nevertheless, within the past five years courts, scholars, and legislatures have increasingly tackled these non-traditional forms of discrimination. As such, this Article endeavors to fill the gap in the existing scholarship.

This Article specifically focuses on heightism in the workplace, with an emphasis on prejudice against short people …

Discriminatory Retaliation: Title Vii Protection For The Cooperating Employee, Megan E. Mowrey

Pace Law Review

No abstract provided.

Harassment Handbook, Jovon Bell, Kevin Blanch, Vashon Broadnax, Dallas Cline, Candi Lee

Parameters of Law in Student Affairs and Higher Education (CNS 670)

Harassment presents itself as a challenging annoyance, which most everyone will have to confront over a period of time. As defined by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, harassment is commonly transferred via some type of unwelcome communicated behavior, which includes discrimination (2007). There are several motives for which harassment can occur, including race, gender, religion, sexual orientation, and disability. Titles VI and VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and Title IX of the Educational Amendments of 1972 are two federal discrimination laws that help protect residents of the United States from occurrences including both discrimination and harassment, that …

The Antidiscrimination Paradox: Why Sex Before Race?, Kimberly A. Yuracko

Faculty Working Papers

This paper seeks to explain a paradox: Why does Title VII's prohibition on sex discrimination currently look so much more expansive than its prohibition on race discrimination? Why in particular, do workers appear to be receiving greater protection for expressions of gender identity than for expressions of racial identity? I argue that as a doctrinal matter, the paradox is illusory—the product of a fundamental misinterpretation of recent sex discrimination case law by scholars. Rather than reflecting fundamentally distinct antidiscrimination principles, the race and sex cases in fact reflect the same traditional commitments to ending status discrimination and undermining group-based subordination. …

Evaluating Policy Solutions To Sex-Based Pay Discrimination: Women Workers, Lawmakers, And Cultural Change, Vicky Lovell

University of Maryland Law Journal of Race, Religion, Gender and Class

No abstract provided.

The New Sex Discrimination: Family Responsibilities, Cynthia Thomas Calvert

University of Maryland Law Journal of Race, Religion, Gender and Class

No abstract provided.

Opening The Doors To The Local Courthouse: Maryland’S New Private Right Of Action For Employment Discrimination, Deborah Thompson Eisenberg

University of Maryland Law Journal of Race, Religion, Gender and Class

No abstract provided.

Commentary: Women’S Employment Rights In The Workplace Of 2007 And 2027, Marley S. Weiss

University of Maryland Law Journal of Race, Religion, Gender and Class

No abstract provided.

Antidiscrimination Law In The Workplace: Moving Beyond The Impasse, Dale Larson

University of Maryland Law Journal of Race, Religion, Gender and Class

No abstract provided.

Joseph R. Grodin, Paul M. Secunda, Richard A. Bales, Roberto L. Corrada, Catherine L. Fisk, & Pauline T. Kim, Working Group On Chapter 4 Of The Proposed Restatement Of Employment Law: The Tort Of Wrongful Discipline In Violation Of Public Policy, 13 Emp. Rts. & Emply. Pol'y J. 159 (2009)., Joseph R. Grodin, Paul M. Secunda, Richard A. Bales, Roberto L. Corrada, Catherine L. Fisk, Pauline T. Kim

Sturm College of Law: Faculty Scholarship

The purpose of this commentary on Chapter 4 of the Proposed ALI Restatement of Employment Law, concerning the tort of wrongful discipline in violation of public policy, is to closely evaluate the current draft in light of the appropriate purposes for a Restatement. Although some value exists in merely stating the consensus respecting these rules, the mission of the ALI extends beyond that, to better adapt the law to social needs and secure the better administration of justice. Our principal problem with the current Restatement draft is that it does not adequately recognize the dynamic nature of this area of …

Toward An Integrated Disparate Treatment And Accommodation Framework For Title Vii Religion Cases, Roberto L. Corrada

Sturm College of Law: Faculty Scholarship

This Article proposes that courts follow a new, integrated disparate treatment and accommodation framework for all Title VII religion claims. The integrated framework requires employees to show: (1) the employee had a sincerely held religious belief or practice that may or may not have conflicted with a work requirement; (2) the employer knew of the employee's belief; and (3) the employee was subjected to an adverse employment action. The burden would then shift to the employer to show (1) the employer was neutral, and not intentionally biased toward employee's religion in the workplace, by articulating its reasons for acting, which …

Postracial Discrimination , Girardeau A. Spann

The Modern American

No abstract provided.