This seminal textbook on the practical application of Australian discrimination law is suitable for all involved in this branch of the law – lawyers, business people, human resources and industrial relations staff, advocates and students. Discrimination Law and Practice examines important recent cases in key areas of discrimination law and particularly in all aspects of employment and harassment, the provision of goods and services and education.
Surveys the claims, defenses, procedures and remedies fundamental to an understanding of the contemporary federal law of employment discrimination. Because of the rapid pace of change in this field, an unusually high proportion of the cited cases included were decided within the past several years. To serve the needs of law students, the book tracks the coverage of the most important issues canvassed in the principal employment discrimination casebooks.
This casebook, originally with lead author Susan Grover, asks students to view legal problems from different perspectives, such as a plaintiff's lawyer, a judge, an in-house counsel, a defense attorney, a victim of discrimination, a person accused of discrimination, a human resources professional, and an employer. Notable changes to the third edition include additional practice exercises and updated materials on disability discrimination, religious discrimination, pregnancy discrimination, and sexual orientation discrimination. In particular, the chapter on protected traits and special issues has been modified to reflect recent developments in employment discrimination law.
Gerry Handley faced years of blatant race-based harassment before he filed a complaint against his employer: racist jokes, signs reading “KKK” in his work area, and even questions from coworkers as to whether he had sex with his daughter as slaves supposedly did. He had an unusually strong case, with copious documentation and coworkers’ support, and he settled for $50,000, even winning back his job. But victory came at a high cost. Legal fees cut into Mr. Handley’s winnings, and tensions surrounding the lawsuit poisoned the workplace. A year later, he lost his job due to downsizing by his company. Mr. Handley exemplifies the burden plaintiffs bear in contemporary civil rights litigation. In the decades since the civil rights movement, we’ve made progress, but not nearly as much as it might seem. On the surface, America’s commitment to equal opportunity in the workplace has never been clearer. Virtually every company has antidiscrimination policies in place, and there are laws designed to protect these rights across a range of marginalized groups. But, as Ellen Berrey, Robert L. Nelson, and Laura Beth Nielsen compellingly show, this progressive vision of the law falls far short in practice. When aggrieved individuals turn to the law, the adversarial character of litigation imposes considerable personal and financial costs that make plaintiffs feel like they’ve lost regardless of the outcome of the case. Employer defendants also are dissatisfied with the system, often feeling “held up” by what they see as frivolous cases. And even when the case is resolved in the plaintiff’s favor, the conditions that gave rise to the lawsuit rarely change. In fact, the contemporary approach to workplace discrimination law perversely comes to reinforce the very hierarchies that antidiscrimination laws were created to redress. Based on rich interviews with plaintiffs, attorneys, and representatives of defendants and an original national dataset on case outcomes, Rights on Trial reveals the fundamental flaws of workplace discrimination law and offers practical recommendations for how we might better respond to persistent patterns of discrimination.
Experiencing Employment Discrimination Law is written by two seasoned practitioners, one of whom is a law professor. The book is designed as both a tool of pedagogy as well as a book that students can take into practice. It begins with six "Threshold Questions" that must be asked and answered before a lawyer proceeds to determine whether the law has been violated. Other books bury these issues in unrelated sections; this book ties them together in one place. Before each case throughout the book, the authors include "X-Ray Questions" to help students understand what they should be asking themselves as they read the case. This feature allows instructors to spend less time laying the groundwork for understanding a case and more time discussing the case's import. The book also has many "Leaning Into Practice" sections based on challenging real-world fact patterns, which are designed to allow students to gain competence and confidence. These exercises can also be done in the classroom for instructors who want an alternative to the traditional case-summary method of teaching. Case selection focuses much more on interesting and engaging fact patterns and much less on stodgy majority, concurring, and dissenting Supreme Court opinions. These are the types of cases that practicing lawyers will use and interpret in their daily work. Through its "Beyond the Cite" sections, the book looks at a wide variety of contemporary issues such as whether prohibitions on certain hair styles constitute a proxy for racial discrimination. The mix of cases, exercises, and reading materials will provide a stimulating fulcrum to meet the pedagogical goals of different instructors. The book is written in a down-to-earth, highly readable style that will resonate with students, while still demonstrating a commitment to deep intellectual rigor.
This casebook is a pluralistic and yet concise introduction to the doctrine and theory of employment discrimination law. The new edition covers all the recent Supreme Court decisions and federal legislation in this field, including the ADA Amendments Act and the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, and it analyzes the effect of these developments on prior decisions of the Supreme Court. It covers discrimination on the basis of race, national origin, sex, religion, age, and disability, and provides economic and political analysis from a wide range of different perspectives, both liberal and conservative. Comprehensive notes survey the current state of the law, raise questions for class discussion, and address the continuing controversies in this field. A Teacher's Manual contains brief summaries of all cases, offers additional commentary on selected issues, and provides further questions for students beyond those provided in the casebook itself. A supplemental CD is available with PowerPoint slides, a text of cases, and statutes. The Teacher's Manual is also offered on CD, thus allowing professors to modify the materials as desired.
Reflecting the dominate theme of workplace equality, the authors go beyond this general consensus to affirm that the fundamental purpose of laws prohibiting employment discrimination is to implement the national civil rights policy. Organized around an examination of the reach and limits of laws, the book scrutinizes the federal statutory protection against employment discrimination. Constitutional provisions and state laws are included where appropriate. In addition, this new edition extensively uses scholarship drawn from the work of critical race theorists and feminist legal scholars. It also has materials on the law and economics approach to employment discrimination.
The second edition of Mastering Employment Discrimination Law coincides with a defining moment in U.S. culture: the #metoo movement and the many sexual harassment scandals that have roiled American society. In addition to covering all procedural and substantive aspects of U.S. sexual harassment and sex discrimination law, the second edition also takes on a wide variety of employment discrimination law subjects. The book begins first with coverage and jurisdiction issues and then turns to complex federal and state procedural topics surrounding the filing of administrative charges of discrimination and civil lawsuits. Moreover, the book comprehensively addresses the substantive aspects of Title VII, the ADEA, the ADA (including recent amendments), the Equal Pay Act, and the Civil Rights Acts, as well as related issues such as remedies, attorney fees, and settlements. By adding Professor Joseph Seiner of the University of South Carolina School of Law¿a former attorney with the EEOC¿as a new co-author, the book has added substantial new focus on administrative topics and procedural issues in employment discrimination litigation.
The Model Rules of Professional Conduct provides an up-to-date resource for information on legal ethics. Federal, state and local courts in all jurisdictions look to the Rules for guidance in solving lawyer malpractice cases, disciplinary actions, disqualification issues, sanctions questions and much more. In this volume, black-letter Rules of Professional Conduct are followed by numbered Comments that explain each Rule's purpose and provide suggestions for its practical application. The Rules will help you identify proper conduct in a variety of given situations, review those instances where discretionary action is possible, and define the nature of the relationship between you and your clients, colleagues and the courts.
