Blog Topic

Daily Developments in EEO Law

A??running commentary (since 2004) on the follies and fortunes of employment discrimination law in the federal courts of appeal - with occasional detours, at the author's discretion.

EEOC v. Kelly Services, Inc., No. 08-3880 (8th Cir. Mar. 25, 2010)
Posted by: Paul Mollica
March 26, 2010

This is a Title VII religious discrimination/accommodation case, involving the wearing of a head scarf, complicated by the fact that it was brought against an employment agency under 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-2(b), rather than the company that enforced the restrictive clothing policy. The Eighth Circuit affirms summary judgment on the ground that the EEOC does not show that there was a position at the host employer that the employee was qualified to hold.

Smith v. Xerox Corp., No. 08-11115 (5th Cir. Mar. 24, 2010); Marsico v. Sears Holding Corp., No. 07-2231 (6th Cir. Mar. 25, 2010)
Posted by: Paul Mollica
March 25, 2010

Plaintiffs prevail in separate 2-1 decisions. The Fifth Circuit splits with the Seventh Circuit, and affirms the availability of mixed-motive analysis in a Title VII retaliation case, upholding a jury verdict for the plaintiff. In the Sixth Circuit, the panel majority holds that the district court abused its discretion in denying a former employee two depositions of senior managment figures in an ADEA case, vacates summary judgment and remands the case with directions to allow the discovery.

La Grande v. DeCrescente Distributing Co., Inc., Nos. 08-3010, 09-1789 (2d Cir. Mar. 23, 2010)
Posted by: Paul Mollica
March 24, 2010

The Second Circuit reverses in part dismissal of a pro se Title VII complaint of harassment, discrimination and retaliation, in an unpublished order, and in the course of so doing churns up some useful rulings for all of us.

Carmona v. Southwest Airlines Co., No. 08-51175 (5th Cir. Mar. 22, 2010)
Posted by: Paul Mollica
March 23, 2010

The plaintiff flight attendant wins a jury verdict for ADA discrimination, loses it on a Rule 50 judgment as a matter of law, and this week wins it back on appeal in the Fifth Circuit.

Kasten v. Saint-Gobain Performance Plastics Corp., No. 09-834 (U.S. S. Ct. Mar. 22, 2010)
Posted by: Paul Mollica
March 22, 2010

Returning to business after a recess, the U.S. Supreme Court accepts certiorari today in an FLSA case that may tell us something more about what that Court is thinking these days about statutory retaliation cases.

Quigley v. Winter, No. 08-3630 (8th Cir. Mar. 16, 2010)
Posted by: Paul Mollica
March 16, 2010

Under the Fair Housing Act, a jury awards -- and the Eighth Circuit today affirms -- a verdict for sexual harassment of a renter by her landlord, including $13,685.00 in compensatory damages and $250,000.00 in punitive damages (reduced by the district court to $20,527.50). The Eighth Circuit readjusts the attorney's fee (over a dissent) upward from $20,000 to $78,044.33, and bumps the punitive award up to $54,750.00.

Lockridge v. University of Southern Maine, No. 09-1895 (1st Cir. Mar. 10, 2010); Corbitt v. Home Depot U.S.A., Inc., No. 08-12199 (11th Cir. Mar. 10, 2010)
Posted by: Paul Mollica
March 10, 2010

The First Circuit holds that denial of an employee's request for office space may be a materially adverse action for purposes of a Title VII retaliation claim, though on the individual facts affirms summary judgment for the employer. The Eleventh Circuit grants en banc review in a sex harassment case, mere months after giving full-bench review to another harassment case.

EEOC v. Hosanna-Tabor Evangelical Lutheran Church and School, No. 09-1134 (6th Cir. Mar. 9, 2010)
Posted by: Paul Mollica
March 09, 2010

The "Ministerial Exception," a First Amendment Free Exercise rule implied by federal courts into civil rights laws, gets another run around the block by the Sixth Circuit, which holds that a grade school teacher at a religious school who taught primarily secular subjects falls outsidethe exception and may pursue her claim under the ADA.

Brzak v. United Nations, No. 08-2799 (2d Cir. Mar. 2, 2010); Lake v. Yellow Transporation, Inc., No. 09-1392 (8th Cir. Mar. 2, 2010); Murphy v. Comer Oil U.S.A., No. 07-60756 (5th Cir. Feb. 26, 2010)
Posted by: Paul Mollica
March 02, 2010

The United Nations and its staff win immunity in a sex-discrimination lawsuit, the Eighth Circuit sends a race-discrimination case back for trial, and the Fifth Circuit sadly vacates a progressive panel opinion for rehearing.