The decision in Bostock v. Clayton County Georgia, 590 U.S. 644 (2020) was rendered in 2020. In that decision, the U.S. Supreme Court resolved a long-standing issue: does Title VII apply to homosexual based claims? Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits discrimination based on sex. Does “sex” include same sex?
Summary judgment is the employer’s go-to defense to a discrimination lawsuit. For a few decades now, many Federal judges have used summary judgment as a tool for clearing his/her docket. But, in Dabassi v. Motiva Enterprises, No. 23-20166 (5th Cir. 7/16/2024), the court of appeals reversed the district court’s grant of summary judgment. In
DEI (Diversity, Equity and Inclusion) is under a magnifying glass in many sectors, one of which is employment. Joshua Young, a correctional officer in the Colorado prison system filed suit after he was required to attend DEI training. He alleged the DEI training left him feeling marginalized. The training discussed “white supremacy” and “white exceptionalism.”
In the recent US Supreme Court decision of Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo, No. 22-451 (2024), the higher court overrules the decades long precedent in Chevron USA Inc. v. Natural Resources Defense Counsel, 467 U.S. 837 (1984). The Chevron decision had held that courts should allow deference to interpretations of statutes by expert
Many discrimination cases lose on motions for summary judgment. In Gutierrez v. City of Converse, No. 17-CV-01233-JKP (W.D. Tex. Jan. 10, 2020), the Western District denied in part and granted in part the City of Converse’s Motion for Summary Judgment. Ms. Gutierrez worked for the Converse Fire Department for eight years when she was
Deborah Laufer sought to dismiss her appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, but the court still heard oral arguments on her case. I previously wrote about her case here. Ms. Laufer is confined to a wheel chair. She has accessed websites of hotels and B&B’s for years to see if they satisfy the requirements
Potential clients have asked me about this scenario: if co-workers make racial comments about a well-known figure, do these comments help show racial animus toward his/her situation? This situation is presented in a case heard by the Eleventh Court Of Appeals. A black nurse heard racial comments about former President. Obama and about black patients.
I previously wrote about the first decision in Hamilton v. Dallas County here. That decision held that forcing female detention officers to work on weekends was not discrimination based on sex. The Fifth Circuit panel noted rightly that prior caselaw required an “ultimate employment action” to constitute discrimination. Prior caselaw defined ultimate employment action as
There are folks with disabilities who test websites to see if those websites are ADA compliant. I previously wrote about one tester, Deborah Laufer here. In Laufer v. Acheson Hotels, 50 F.4th 259 (2022), the First Circuit ruled that Ms. Laufer as a tester did have standing for her ADA lawsuit. Some of
In Spears v. Louisiana College, No. 20-30522, 2023 WL 2810057 (5th Cir. 4/6/2023), the appellate court addressed the situation in which an employee’s duties are are assigned to various employees. Some courts refer to this practice as “fractioning.” Carolyn Spears taught at Louisiana College for many years. She contracted cancer in 2012 and again