Court: U.S. Supreme Court

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Today the U.S. Supreme Court decided, in Vance v. Ball State University, which employees are “supervisors” within the meaning of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.  I previously wrote about the case here. Whether the alleged discriminator/harasser is the plaintiff’s “supervisor” or “co-worker” is critical: Under Title VII, an employer’s liability for ……

Read More U.S. Supreme Court Clarifies Who Is A Title VII “Supervisor”
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The U.S. Supreme Court held today, in Genesis Healthcare Corp. v. Symczyk, that where the claim of the lone plaintiff in a Fair Labor Standards Act “collective action” (see 29 U. S. C. §216(b), which authorizes a plaintiff to bring a claim on behalf of himself “and other employees similarly situated”) is dismissed, the case fails to…

Read More SCOTUS: FLSA Collective Action Falls With Dismissal of Lead Plaintiff’s Claim
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Last week the U.S. Supreme Court granted a Petition for Writ of Certiorari filed by the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in the case captioned University of Texas Southwestern Center v. Naiel Nassar, M.D.  General information regarding the case is available at SCOTUSblog; the actual petition is accessible here. The question presented is: Whether

Read More Supreme Court to Decide Whether Mixed-Motive Analysis Applies to Retaliation Claims
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Seems like a straightforward question, right?  It’s the boss, the head honcho, the big cheese, the person who tells you what to do and (in some cases) is the subject of social media ranting.  However, the question is not so clear under federal anti-discrimination law, as illustrated by a case before the U.S. Supreme Court.…

Read More Who Is A “Supervisor”?
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Yesterday SCOTUS granted certiorari in a case brought by a white plaintiff challenging the University of Texas at Austin’s use of race in its admission decisions.  The Question Presented, as set forth here, is:  “Whether this Court’s decisions interpreting the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, including Grutter v. Bollinger, 539 U.S. 306 (2003),…

Read More SCOTUS agrees to hear affirmative action case
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On January 23, 2012, the U.S. Supreme Court held (in U.S. v. Jones; decision below) that the government’s “installation of a GPS device on a target’s vehicle, and its use of that device to monitor the vehicle’s movements, constitutes a ‘search’” within the meaning of the Fourth Amendment. Central to the Court’s analysis and conclusion…

Read More Supreme Court Holds That Affixing GPS Tracking Device to a Car Constitutes a Fourth Amendment “Search”
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Last Wednesday the U.S. Supreme Court (scroll down for decision) explored the interaction between the laws prohibiting employment discrimination (here, the ADA), on the one hand, and the First Amendment’s command that “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof”, on the other. The Supreme Court Recognizes…

Read More Supreme Court Recognizes “Ministerial Exception” to Anti-Discrimination Laws
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In Staub v. Proctor Hospital, 131 S.Ct. 1186 (2011), (slip opinion here), the Supreme Court clarified the circumstances – under the Uniform Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA), 38 U.S.C. 4311 – under which an employer may be held liable for employment discrimination based on the discriminatory animus of an employee who influenced, but did not…

Read More U.S. Supreme Court Clarifies “Cat’s Paw” Liability Theory
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In Kasten v. Saint-Gobain Performance Plastics Corp., 131 S.Ct. 1325 (2011), the U.S. Supreme Court held that the Fair Labor Standards Act’s (FLSA) anti-retaliation provision does not require the submission of a written complaint. That provision, codified at 29 U.S.C. 215(a)(3), makes it unlawful to, inter alia, “discharge or in any other manner discriminate against any employee…

Read More FLSA Anti-Retaliation Provision Covers Oral, as Well as Written, Complaints
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