Section Newsletters

Articles on Discrimination

Thinket Ink Information Resources v. Sun Microsystems By Jonathan Linnemeyer Business and Securities Law, June 2004 Whether corporations have standing to assert a discrimination claim under 42 U.S.C. §1981.
Seventh Circuit reaffirms that plaintiffs who prove pay discrimination may be awarded back pay even if the illegal pay decision occurred outside the limitations period By Robert H. Brown Federal Civil Practice, May 2004 In Reese v. Ice Cream Specialties Inc. and Hildebrandt v. Illinois Department of Natural Resources, plaintiffs claimed they were paid less than they should have been because they were an African-American and a woman, respectively.
The use of other discriminatory acts to prove liability: An analysis of recent Seventh Circuit jurisprudence By James W. Springer Federal Civil Practice, May 2004 English and American law have generally looked with disfavor on attempts to prove (or disprove) liability, through proof of acts or behavior on other occasions.
An at-will employee may maintain a discrimination claim under 42 U.S.C. §1981 By Lori D. Ecker Federal Civil Practice, March 2004 One of the significant changes to discrimination law occasioned by the Civil Rights Act of 1991 was its expansion of the availability of 42 U.S.C. § 1981 ("Section 1981") as a viable cause of action.
A plaintiff need not present direct evidence of discrimination to get a mixed-motive jury instruction By Richard J. Gonzalez Federal Civil Practice, March 2004 Plaintiffs' employment lawyers are hailing the 2003 United States Supreme Court decision Desert Palace v. Costa, 539 U.S. _____, 123 S. Ct. 2148 (2003) and, just as they did over a decade ago when the Court handed down Price Waterhouse v. Hopkins, 490 U.S. 228, 109 S. Ct. 1775 (1989), and when Congress passed the Civil Rights Act of 1991, hope that it provides a long-awaited breakthrough in employment discrimination law that will fundamentally alter the playing field which they have traditionally viewed as overwhelmingly favoring employers.
Fourth Circuit: Well-designed anti-discrimination policies will protect you from punitive damages By Adrianne C. Mazura & Richard Hafets Corporate Law Departments, September 2003 A recent decision by the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, Bryant v. Aiken Regional Medical Centers, Inc., clarifies the circumstances under which employers can avoid punitive damages for the discriminatory actions of their supervisory employees
Basics of employment discrimination: Who can sue whom for what By Iain D. Johnston Corporate Law Departments, August 1999 Title VII (42 U.S.C. section 2000e)
Floodgates open to equal protection claims By Michael D. Bersani Local Government Law, March 1999 The Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment provides that "[n]o State shall . . . deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws."

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