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Civil Rights Act Race Discrimination Appeals

Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein LLP

Supreme Court Denies Review of Statute of Limitations for Section 1981 Discrimination Claims

On June 2, 2025, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected the appeal of a Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals decision interpreting the limitations period for filing lawsuits under Section 1981 of the Civil Rights Act of 1866. ...more

Perkins Coie

Employers See Wins in Title VII Suits Over DEI Trainings

Perkins Coie on

Key Takeaways - - Employers have recently prevailed in several cases across the country in which plaintiffs attacked diversity training and other DEI-related initiatives in the workplace. Decisions have indicated that many...more

Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart,...

Federal Court Permanently Blocks Florida Restrictions on Workplace Diversity Training

On July 26, 2024, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida permanently blocked Florida’s Stop WOKE Act, which restricted the types of anti-harassment and antidiscrimination training that employers can...more

Foster Swift Collins & Smith

Recommendations for DEI Programs in the Wake of Recent Federal Court Decision Findings on Diversity Initiatives

On June 3rd, 2024, the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals issued a decision, American Alliance for Equal Rights v. Fearless Fund Management Fund, LLC, et al, that impacts considerations for how diversity, equity and inclusion...more

Mintz

Eleventh Circuit Rules Corporate Grant Contest for Black Women Is Racially Discriminatory and Violates U.S. Constitution

Mintz on

On Monday, June 3, 2024, the Eleventh Circuit of Appeals held that the “Fearless Strivers Grant Contest, an entrepreneurship funding competition open only to businesses owned by black women” was “substantially unlikely to...more

Proskauer - Corporate Defense and Disputes

Eleventh Circuit Invalidates Contest Providing Venture-Capital Funding for Black Women

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit held that a contest providing venture-capital funding only to Black female applicants is substantially likely to violate section 1981 of the Civil Rights Act of 1866, which...more

Proskauer Rose LLP

Broadway Ruling Puts Discrimination Claims In The Limelight

Proskauer Rose LLP on

Does the First Amendment right to free speech permit an employer to hire or fire an employee based on race? On its face, the proposition may seem absurd, especially as we approach the 60th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act...more

Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP

U.S. Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit Allows Claims Based on Association CEO’s Comments About Employee Departure

A recent DC Circuit decision contains cautionary lessons for drafting severance agreements and opens the door to personal liability for negative characterizations of the reasons for employee departures. A mutual...more

Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart,...

Louisiana Court Rules Jones Act Claim for Mental Injury Can Proceed in Light of Noose in Maritime Workplace

Recently, the Louisiana Court of Appeal, First Circuit, in Thompson v. Cenac Towing Co., L.L.C., analyzed a trial court’s grant of summary judgment in a company’s favor after a noose-like rope was found hanging in a maritime...more

Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein LLP

Fourth Circuit Says Law Firm Equity Partner Is Not an Employee for Title VII Purposes

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 protects employees from discrimination based on a range of protected classifications. However, Title VII only applies to employment relationships and cannot be used by contractors,...more

Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein LLP

Fourth Circuit Says Title VII Does Not Require Termination of Co-Worker for Racist Joke

In recent years, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals (which includes North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia) has substantially lowered the legal bar for plaintiffs to demonstrate a hostile work environment based on...more

Mintz - Employment Viewpoints

Supreme Court Clarifies Race Discrimination Claims Under 42 U.S.C. § 1981 Must Meet More Stringent “But-For” Causation Standard

Bringing positive news for employers and a welcome distraction from the COVID-19 crisis, the United States Supreme Court recently held that for claims of racial discrimination under Section 1981 of the Civil Rights Act of...more

Shook, Hardy & Bacon L.L.P.

National Employment Perspective | Focus on Discrimination

Supreme Court Issues Unanimous Opinion Upholding But-For Causation in Section 1981 Discrimination Cases - The U.S. Supreme Court has issued a unanimous opinion holding that a plaintiff who sues for racial discrimination in...more

Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart,...

Supreme Court Requires But-For Causation for Section 1981 Claims

On March 23, 2020, the Supreme Court of the United States, in Comcast Corp. v. National Association of African-American Owned Media, ruled that a plaintiff who alleges race discrimination under 42 U.S.C. § 1981 must plead and...more

Fisher Phillips

SCOTUS Sets High Bar For Those Bringing Race Discrimination Cases

Fisher Phillips on

In a unanimous decision, the U.S. Supreme Court last week ensured that a high standard will be used when assessing whether claims of race discrimination under Section 1981 should advance past the early stages of litigation....more

McAfee & Taft

U.S. Supreme Court confirms ‘but for’ causation in Section 1981 cases

McAfee & Taft on

Surrounded by the confusion and anxiety of the current COVID-19 pandemic, it may feel refreshing to step back and consider some of the basic tenets of employment law. The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision in Comcast Corp....more

Hinshaw & Culbertson - Employment Law...

U.S. Supreme Court Holds Section 1981 Racial Discrimination Claims Require But-For Causation

In a unanimous decision issued on March 23, 2020, the United States Supreme Court held that a but-for causation standard applies to claims brought under Section 1981 of the Civil Rights Act of 1866. The Supreme Court also...more

Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer

Supreme Court Confirms Strict “But for” Causation Test Applies to Section 1981 Claims

On Monday, March 23, the United States Supreme Court, in a nearly unanimous opinion, ruled that a plaintiff asserting race discrimination claims in the making of a contract under 42 U.S.C. § 1981 (Section 1981) bears the...more

Franczek P.C.

Supreme Court Holds that Claims for Intentional Discrimination Under Section 1981 Must Meet “But For” Causation Test

Franczek P.C. on

Section 1981 of the Civil Rights Act prohibits intentional race discrimination in all forms of contracting including employment. Lower courts have split as to whether a § 1981 plaintiff must prove that race was only one...more

Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart,...

Fifth Circuit Finds EEOC Did Not Have Authority to Issue 2012 Criminal History Guidance

On August 6, 2019, in State of Texas v. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit ruled that the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) overstepped its limited rulemaking...more

Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart,...

Court Confirms Louisiana Anti-Discrimination Statute, Not Tort Law, Provides the Exclusive Basis for Employment Discrimination...

Plaintiffs have attempted a number of creative avenues to avoid the procedural and substantive limitations set forth under the Louisiana Employment Discrimination Law (LEDL), which provides a statutory scheme to address...more

Poyner Spruill LLP

Fourth Circuit Addresses Question of Employer Knowledge in Title VII Retaliation Suit

Poyner Spruill LLP on

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits not only discrimination in employment on the basis of certain protected categories such as race, but also retaliation against an employee who opposes such discrimination....more

Littler

New Mexico Supreme Court Rejects a Heightened Evidentiary Burden on a Plaintiff in a Reverse Race Discrimination Case

Littler on

In Garcia v. Hatch Valley Public Schools, the New Mexico Supreme Court recently examined whether a plaintiff has a relatively heightened evidentiary burden in proving a reverse discrimination claim brought under the New...more

Maynard Nexsen

Fourth Circuit Affirms Summary Judgment Based on Lack of Comparator Evidence

Maynard Nexsen on

On March 7, 2017, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, which includes North and South Carolina, upheld a trial court’s order granting summary judgment to the District of Columbia in a race discrimination lawsuit brought by a...more

Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP

School of Hard (Dread) Locks: EEOC Loses Appeal Over Hairstyle Ban

Last week the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed a lower court’s dismissal of a case the EEOC filed over a job applicant’s short dreadlocks. In 2010, Chastity Jones, an African American, applied for a position with...more

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