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Formalism And Employer Liability Under Title Vii, Samuel R. Bagenstos

Articles

Most lawyers, law professors, and judges are familiar with two standard critiques of formalism in legal reasoning. One is the unacknowledged-policymaking critique. This critique argues that formalist reasoning purports to be above judicial policymaking but instead simply hides the policy decisions offstage. The other is the false-determinacy critique. This critique observes that formalist reasoning purports to reduce decision costs in the run of cases by sorting cases into defined categories, but argues that instead of going away the difficult questions of application migrate to the choice of the category in which to place a particular case.

Lessons From The Dolphins/Richie Incognito Saga, Kerri Lynn Stone

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Categorically Black, White, Or Wrong: 'Misperception Discrimination' And The State Of Title Vii Protection, D. Wendy Greene

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

This Article exposes an inconspicuous, categorically wrong movement within antidiscrimination law. A band of federal courts have denied Title VII protection to individuals who allege “categorical discrimination”: invidious, differential treatment on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, or sex. Per these courts, a plaintiff who self-identifies as Christian but is misperceived as Muslim cannot assert an actionable claim under Title VII if she suffers an adverse employment action as a result of this misperception and related animus. Though Title VII expressly prohibits discrimination on the basis of religion, courts have held that such a plaintiff’s claim of “misperception …

The Gay Accent, Gender, And Title Vii Employment Discrimination, Ryan Castle

Seattle University Law Review

While race, religion, ethnicity, and sex will always remain salient social issues in our nation, sexual orientation is currently at the forefront of our national debate and will likely not abate in the foreseeable future. Federal courts, for example, struggle in differentiating sex, gender, and sexuality when adjudicating Title VII employment discrimination claims. Because Title VII does not protect employees from sexual orientation-based discrimination, plaintiffs who are or are perceived to be of a sexual minority have difficulty proving a valid sex-based discrimination claim in federal court. This difficulty arises because one cannot perceive sex, gender, and sexuality without muddling …

Is The Antidiscrimination Project Being Ended?, Michael J. Zimmer

Indiana Journal of Law and Social Equality

No abstract provided.

An Unreasonable Application Of A Reasonable Standard: Title Vii And Sexual Orientation Retaliation, Jorden Colalella

Indiana Journal of Law and Social Equality

No abstract provided.

Bundy V. Jackson: Eliminating The Need To Prove Tangible Economic Job Loss In Sexual Harassment Claims Brought Under Title Vii, Terence J. Bouressa

Pepperdine Law Review

In the case of Bundy v. Jackson, the federal appellate court eliminated the need to prove tangible job loss in claims under Title VII relating to sexual harassment. The holding in Bundy thus promotes the viability of sexual harassment claims under Title VII and deters employers from engaging in subtle sexual harassment as "part of the job." The decision provides a model for the nation to follow in the pursuit of the worthy goal of eliminating sexual harassment in the workplace.

Newport News Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Company V. Eeoc: Expanding The Scope Of Title Vii , Mark D. Klein

Pepperdine Law Review

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 as amended by the Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1978 prohibits sex discrimination on the basis of pregnancy. In Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Co. v. EEOC, the United States Supreme Court extended the scope of the Act to include not only female employees, but also female dependents of male employees. The author examines the Supreme Court's analysis of and the legislative intent behind the Pregnancy Discrimination Act and explores the future impact of the decision.

Up Or Out And Into The Supreme Court: A Forecast For Hishon V. King And Spalding , Linda Randlett Kollar

Pepperdine Law Review

The author presents an extensive analysis of Title VII in an effort to forecast the forthcoming Supreme Court decision of Hishon v. King and Spalding. Included are the issues presented to the Court, the legislative history of Title VII, the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals' decision, and a historical inquiry of the applicable decisions of the Burger Court. Although the outcome of the case has yet to be decided, the author's informed prediction will guide commentaries in the future.

Dellinger V. Science Applications International Corporation: Missing An Opportunity To Expand The Meaning Of "Employee" Under The Fair Labor Standards Act, Ashley Sharif

Proxy

No abstract provided.

Discrimination Statutes, The Common Law, And Proximate Cause, Sandra F. Sperino

Faculty Articles and Other Publications

The Supreme Court has recently hinted that courts should use proximate cause in Title VII cases. This Article anticipates future judicial forays into this area and argues that proximate cause principles should not be imported into federal discrimination law. This inquiry dovetails into a broader conversation about the proper role of proximate cause in federal statutes, a subject which has produced a fractured jurisprudence.

Courts and commentators have often indicated that employment discrimination law is a tort. While this statement may be true, it is too general to provide guidance on whether to apply proximate cause. It ignores that both …

Litigating The Fmla In The Shadow Of Title Vii, Sandra F. Sperino

Faculty Articles and Other Publications

The history of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 is a history of frameworks. In an almost predictable pattern, the Supreme Court has recognized a category of employment discrimination, and then, either in the same case, or sometime thereafter, created a multi-part test for evaluating it. Congress enacted the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) in 1993, almost 30 years after it enacted Title VII of the Civil Rights Act. This Essay argues that the FMLA is litigated within the shadow of Title VII, as courts routinely apply complex frameworks developed in the Title VII context to …

Masculine Law Firms, Ann C. Mcginley

Scholarly Works

This article describes the masculine culture in law firms and analyzes how this culture harms both men and women because of their gender. Part II explains MMT, and analyzes the masculine practices that exist in modern law firms. Part III studies a lawsuit brought by a law firm associate, a white male father of two who allegedly was fired in retaliation for taking leave under the Family Medical Leave Act and because of his failure to adhere to the macho stereotypes prevalent in the law firm. Part IV analyzes how the law should respond to masculine norms, and suggests that …

Masculinity, Labor, And Sexual Power, Ann C. Mcginley

Scholarly Works

This Essay focuses on gender and sexuality to analyze Hannah Rosin's thesis in the The End of Men. It relies in large part on feminist and masculinities theories to consider how men and women may both suffer gendered disadvantage. It looks specifically at Las Vegas, a market that is sexualized, in order to complicate Rosin's narrative, and to create a better understanding of what is happening in the U.S. workforce. While the Las Vegas market is not representative of markets across the country, it is economically and socially significant and, with the expansion of the casino and gaming industries …

Cognitive Illiberalism, Summary Judgement, And Title Vii: An Examination Of Ricci V. Destefano, Ann C. Mcginley

Scholarly Works

No abstract provided.

The Cost Of Non-Compensable Workplace Harm, Henry L. Chambers, Jr.

Law Faculty Publications

This essay briefly addresses the limited fashion in which Title VII remedies sex discrimination in the workplace. Those limitations fall into three broad categories. The first encompasses how courts have applied procedural rules to Title VII claims. The second involves Title VII's explicit limitation on its coverage. The third includes substantive limitations that courts have placed on causes of action that are clearly covered by Title VII. This essay addresses those categories in turn.

Who's The Boss? A Distinction Without A Difference, Lakisha A. Davis

Barry Law Review

This case note provides the factual background of Vance v. Ball State and briefly summarizes the legal precedent behind the decision. It analyzes the opinion of the Court, suggesting that the decision severely limited the essential protections against workplace harassment provided by Title VII, consequently making it more difficult for employees to prove employer vicarious liability for workplace harassment.

Title Ix’S Protections For Transgender Student Athletes, Scott Skinner-Thompson, Ilona M. Turner

Publications

This article examines legal authority and policy to determine whether transgender students in K-12 schools must be permitted to participate in athletics according to their gender identity, and without any requirement for medical intervention. The articles concludes that such a policy is consistent with legal authority under Title IX and Title VII and, more importantly, best advances the well-being of already vulnerable transgender youth by helping to incorporate and include such students in activities that are critical to physical, social, mental, emotional development, and health.

Part II of this article briefly details the history of Title IX with respect to …

Decoding Civility, Kerri Lynn Stone

Faculty Publications

If women outnumber men in graduate schools and are entering professional and other workplaces in unprecedented numbers, and if Title VII has aimed to eradicate workplace discrimination for almost fifty years, why are women still so woefully underrepresented at the highest levels of power, leadership, wealth, and prestige in the contemporary workplace? This Article is about abusive speech in the workplace. It explores how the expression of bias in the workplace has evolved and been shaped by anti-discrimination legislation and jurisprudence. It identifies a category of biased speech that eludes prosecution under Title VII. Moreover, this Article seeks to provide …

Teaching The Post-Sex Generation, Kerri Lynn Stone

Faculty Publications

There is a trend that I have observed in the course of leading my classes in discussions about the kinds of behavior that may constitute unlawful discrimination: the emergence of an attitude among students that society is simply “post-sex,” or no longer in need of most or all anti-sex discrimination jurisprudence. This Article details my own approach to teaching and to raising and conducting discussions about how anti-discrimination legislation and jurisprudence works in theory, in practice, and how it would/could work in an ideal world. I enjoy teaching students with a diversity of viewpoints. However, when I began to encounter …

Harmless Amusement Or Sexual Harassment: The Reasonableness Of The Reasonable Woman Standard, Penny L. Cigoy

Pepperdine Law Review

No abstract provided.

Sexual Harassment Of Employees By Non-Employees: When Does The Employer Become Liable?, Robert J. Aalberts, Lorne H. Seidman

Pepperdine Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Dismantling Of Mcdonnell Douglas V. Green: The High Court Muddies The Evidentiary Waters In Circumstantial Discrimination Cases, Melissa A. Essary

Pepperdine Law Review

No abstract provided.

Reasonable Men?, Ann C. Mcginley

Scholarly Works

After the Supreme Court recognized sexual harassment as a form of sex discrimination under Title VII, lower courts used the reasonable person standard to measure whether the behavior was sufficiently severe or pervasive to constitute a hostile working environment. Cultural and radical feminists objected to the reasonable person measure, and many supported a reasonable woman standard, which the Ninth Circuit adopted. Because of its tendency to essentialize how women would react, many feminists soon abandoned their support for the standard. A number of circuits, however, continue to use the reasonable woman or reasonable victim standards.

Most of the scholarship concerning …

Labor And Employment Law, Vijay K. Mago, Elizabeth E. Clarke, Eric Wallace

University of Richmond Law Review

No abstract provided.

Shifting The Burden: Genuine Disputes And Employment Discrimination Standards Of Proof, Barrett S. Moore

University of Arkansas at Little Rock Law Review

Enacted for the purpose of battling workplace discrimination by targeting discrimination against minorities and the disadvantaged, Title VII has become somewhat of an apparition for good-intentioned employers seeking to follow the law. For example, in Ricci v. DeStefano, the city of New Haven, Connecticut refused to hire white firefighters based on a qualification test because to do so would produce the outcome of hiring too few minority firefighters. Despite New Haven's good intentions, the hiring process illegally brought race into the hiring process, thereby showing that America's relationship with civil rights legislation has come full circle.

At the center of …

Subordinate Bias Liability, Theresa M. Beiner

University of Arkansas at Little Rock Law Review

Often, decisions regarding employment are made with the input of or based on the observations of more than one person. This presents complications for employment discrimination plaintiffs seeking to prove discriminatory animus resulting in an adverse employment decision for the plaintiff. Specifically, many plaintiffs are left to deal with the unresolved issue of whether they have a claim for employment discrimination when a discriminating non-decision making coworker or direct supervisor supplies incorrect or distorted information to their superiors who have the authority to fire them. This is known as the "cat's paw" theory of liability or "subordinate bias liability."

The …

The Unsettled State Of Pregnancy Discrimination Claims Under The Florida Civil Rights Act Of 1992, Donna L. Eng

UF Law Faculty Publications

Florida's employment law practitioners are no doubt aware that employment discrimination actions may be brought under both Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VII), and under the Florida Civil Rights Act of 1992 (FCRA). Both sections contain similar verbiage, and for years, courts have held the Florida Civil Rights Act be interpreted in conformity with Title VII. However, the statutes differ in an important respect: While Title VII expressly forbids sex discrimination on the basis of pregnancy, the Florida Civil Rights Act of 1992 does not.

Will Eeoc V. Waffle House, Inc. Signal The Beginning Of The End For Mandatory Arbitration Agreements In The Employment Context? , Marc A. Altenbernt

Pepperdine Dispute Resolution Law Journal

Since the inception of several employment and discrimination statutes, arbitration has grown exponentially as an alternative for the adjudication of employment disputes. The Supreme Court has traditionally held that statutory claims are indeed arbitrable pursuant to a valid arbitration agreement under the Federal Arbitration Act ("FAA"). In an effort to end employment discrimination based on "race, color, religion, sex, or national origin," Congress enacted the Civil Rights Act of 1964 ("Title VII"). In order to adequately effect this calling, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC") was created as the Act's primary enforcement mechanism. While arbitration agreements under the FAA and …

Keeping Discrimination Theory Front And Center In The Discourse Over Work And Family Conflict, Laura T. Kessler

Pepperdine Law Review

This essay is a contribution to a symposium on balancing career and family. It frames the problem of work/family conflict as a form of sex discrimination. It demonstrates that many of the constructs commonly used to illustrate an absence of employment discrimination - such as the accident, opt-out, time-lag theories - actually fit quite comfortably within various discrimination frameworks. It also contextualizes the problem of work/family conflict within the larger issue of gender bias in the workplace, demonstrating how each contributes to and works together to produce workplace inequality for women. This approach contrasts with the traditional bifurcation of gender …