PRACTITIONER BLOG
Read our analyses of developments in Impact Litigation and stay current on class action law
Impact Fund & AMICI Urge Sixth Circuit to Affirm Class Certification in Discriminatory Water Billing Case
In October 2024, the Impact Fund and fellow amici Bet Tzedek Legal Services, Centro Legal de la Raza, Legal Aid at Work, and Public Counsel, filed a brief urging the Sixth Circuit to uphold the federal district court’s certification of a class of Black Cleveland residents who brought a lawsuit alleging discriminatory water billing practices by the City.
SCOTUS Rules that Title VII Protects LGBTQ Employees from Discrimination
The effects of this decision for the LGBTQ community are sweeping. To date, twenty-five states and three territories still do not prohibit employment discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and/or gender identity. Meanwhile, 25% of LGBTQ workers report experiencing discrimination at work and 80% of transgender workers report experiencing discrimination or taking steps to avoid it. Because of Bostock v. Clayton County, LGBTQ workers in every state and territory are now protected from discrimination and harassment under federal law—meaning they can seek relief through the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and federal courts. Other communities also stand to benefit from the decision’s unequivocal language declaring the breadth of Title VII’s protections.
Impact Fund to Ben Carson: Don’t Eviscerate Disparate Impact Rule That Protects Against Housing Discrimination
The Trump Administration has proposed a revised regulation that eviscerates the Fair Housing Act’s protections and undermines the civil rights promises of the Fair Housing Act. HUD says that its proposal aligns the rule with judicial interpretations of disparate impact law, including Inclusive Communities, but it does nothing of the sort. Instead, the rule incorrectly twists the language of the Supreme Court and runs roughshod over settled case law on disparate impact. Should the rule come into effect, it would severely roll back these protections for our most vulnerable communities, and it would allow discriminatory conduct to flourish.