Articles

Earlier today, the Eleventh Circuit affirmed the district court’s dismissal of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s lawsuit against Catastrophe Management Solutions. This an important decision concerning the proper scope of Title VII. At issue was whether a business’s policy requiring professional-looking haircuts & ...

The Supreme Court denied certiorari this morning in Shea v. Kerry, PLF’s case challenging the Department of State’s race-based hiring practice. This is a disappointing end to a very important case. … ...

In EEOC v. Catastrophe Management Solutions, Inc., the federal government is claiming that a business’s decision to ban dreadlocks in the workplace violates Title VII’s requirement that the workplace be free of racial discrimination. Briefing was completed long ago, and PLF filed an amicus brief in the case arguing that requiring profe ...

Today’s Supreme Court decision in Mach Mining, LLC v Equal Employment Opportunity Commission appears to be another minor setback for the EEOC. The EEOC has a statutory duty under Title VII to attempt to eliminate a violation by informal means before it resorts to a lawsuit.  The question in this case was whether a court may review … ...

Think about the following scenario.  A job seeker sees an ad for a sales job.  She has all the correct qualifications.  Her interview goes great.  The business says they want to hire her, but because she will be selling the business to the public, she must get a professional-looking haircut.  The job seeker refuses.  Instead, … ...

On Tuesday of this week I was in Washington, D.C. arguing Shea v. Kerry before the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals.  This case involves a challenge to the State Department’s discriminatory affirmative action program for Foreign Service officers.  The facts of the case are, unfortunately, fairly common.  The Foreign Service was giving prefer ...

This morning PLF filed this Reply Brief in Shea v. Kerry, a case where we are representing Foreign Service officer William Shea in his fight against the US Department of State.  When William Shea was hired by the State Department in the early 1990s, they had a program that placed minority individuals in advanced  positions by virtue of their ...

Yesterday the Sixth Circuit shut down the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s suit against Kaplan University in EEOC v. Kaplan.  EEOC had alleged that Kaplan’s policy of conducting credit checks on job applicants had a disparate impact on minorities.  Perhaps EEOC is unaware of the saying, “when you point one finger at oth ...

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was an historic piece of legislation.  The statute  prohibits racial discrimination in employment:  The text of Title VII is explicit: It shall be unlawful to fail or refuse to hire or to discharge any individual, or otherwise to discriminate against any individual with respect to his … ...