PRACTITIONER BLOG
Read our analyses of developments in Impact Litigation and stay current on class action law
Female athletes from James Campbell High School score class certification after Ninth Circuit Appeal
When several students and parents from the girl’s water polo team flagged concerns of gender discrimination, the DOE retaliated against the class. The administration threatened to cancel the water polo season, increased scrutiny of the team, and mysteriously lost required team paperwork. This retaliatory conduct and the stark inequality between male and female athletes at Campbell are out of bounds under Title IX. In an upset, the District Court denied class certification in 2019 finding that the class failed to meet numerosity standards and, for the class-wide retaliation claims, that plaintiffs failed to show typicality and commonality.
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.
SCOTUS Takes up LGBTQ Workers' Rights Under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act
By taking up all three cases the Supreme Court has decided to take on one of the most critical issues facing the LGBTQ community: whether federal law allows people to express their identity fully without reprisal or harassment.