Court: U.S. Supreme Court

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In Our Lady of Guadalupe School v. Morrissey-Berru, 2020 WL 3808420 (U.S. July 8, 2020), the U.S. Supreme Court expanded the so-called “ministerial exception” to employment discrimination claims. From the decision: In the cases now before us, we consider employment discrimination claims brought by two elementary school teachers at Catholic schools whose teaching responsibilities are…

Read More SCOTUS Expands “Ministerial Exception” to Employment Discrimination Claims
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Today, in Bostock v. Clayton County, Georgia, No. 17-1618 (June 15, 2020) (J. Gorsuch),[1]This case was decided together with Altitude Express, Inc. v. Zarda, No. 17-1623 (Second Circuit) and R.G. & G.R. Harris Funeral Homes, Inc. v. EEOC, No. 18-107 (Sixth Circuit). the U.S. Supreme Court held that the prohibition of discrimination based on “sex”…

Read More U.S. Supreme Court Rules 6-3 That Title VII Prohibits Discrimination Based on Sexual Orientation and Transgender Status
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Today marks the 53rd anniversary of the Supreme Court’s landmark (unanimous) decision in Loving v. Virginia, 388 U.S. 1 (1967) (J. Warren), in which the Court held that Virginia’s “anti-miscegenation statutes” – laws prohibiting marriages between persons solely on the basis of race – violate the Equal Protection and Due Process Clauses of the Fourteenth…

Read More Loving v. Virginia: Happy (53rd) Anniversary
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In Babb v. Wilkie, 2020 WL 1668281 (U.S. April 6, 2020), the U.S. Supreme Court interpreted the federal-sector provision of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 (ADEA), 88 Stat. 74, 29 U.S.C. § 633a(a). That section provides, in relevant part: “All personnel actions affecting employees or applicants for employment who are at least…

Read More SCOTUS Interprets the ADEA’s Federal-Sector Provision
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In a recent decision, Comcast Corporation v. National Association of African American-Owned Media, 2020 WL 1325816 (U.S. March 23, 2020) (Gorsuch, J.), the U.S. Supreme Court held that 42 U.S.C. § 1981 – a federal statute that prohibits race discrimination in the making and enforcement of contracts – is subject to the “ordinary” tort rule…

Read More SCOTUS: Race Discrimination Statute (42 U.S.C. § 1981) Requires Showing of “But For” Causation
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On January 15, 2020, the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral argument in the case of Noris Babb v. Robert Wilkie, Secretary of Veterans Affairs, No. 18-882. Here is the transcript of the argument. The statute at issue, 29 USCA § 633a, titled “Nondiscrimination on account of age in Federal Government employment”, provides in part: (a)…

Read More SCOTUS Hears Oral Argument on Causation Standard in Federal-Sector Age Discrimination Cases
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Today, the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral argument (transcript; audio) in the matters of Bostock v. Clayton County, Georgia (No. 17-1618) and Altitude Express v. Zarda (No. 17-1623). The issue is whether Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964’s prohibition of discrimination because of “sex” likewise prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation. Justice…

Read More SCOTUS Hears Argument in Landmark Title VII Sexual Orientation Discrimination Case
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Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits discrimination because of (among other protected characteristics) race and color. A lesser-known federal law, 42 U.S.C. § 1981, as interpreted, also prohibits race discrimination in the making and enforcing of contracts (including the “at-will” employment relationship). While both prohibit race discrimination in employment, these federal…

Read More SCOTUS Grants Certiorari Petition to Review Causation Standard for Race Discrimination Claims Under 42 U.S.C. § 1981
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Today the Supreme Court, in an opinion delivered by Justice Ginsburg, Ford Bend County, Texas v. Davis, No. 18-525, held that the EEOC charge-filing requirement, embodied in Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, is not “jurisdictional” (and thus does not relate to subject matter jurisdiction), but is rather a “claim-processing rul[] that…

Read More SCOTUS Holds That Title VII’s EEOC Charge-Filing Requirement is Not “Jurisdictional”
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On Monday, April 22, 2019, the U.S. Supreme Court granted certiorari in several cases – including Altitude Express, Inc. et al v. Zarda, Melissa, et al. (17-1623), which originated in the Second Circuit. The Question Presented in the Zarda case, as set forth in that case’s certiorari petition (which I wrote about here) is: Whether…

Read More SCOTUS Agrees to Hear Title VII Sexual Orientation Discrimination Case
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