» civil rights
A widening disconnect
July 14th, 2013
This past term generated a number of opinions by the Supreme Court that evidently reflect disregard as much for practical reality as for long-standing law. Although the pro-corporate bias of the Supreme Court is nothing new, the degree of that bias i…
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Categories: Blog
The Supreme Court’s radical ruling for the proverbial 1%
June 24th, 2013
The latest decision by the Supreme Court about the arbitration of statutory claims will, going forward, preclude court action even when doing so deprives small businesses and many people of any meaningful legal recourse. In rendering such an extreme…
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Categories: Blog
What is harassment?
June 13th, 2013
Both Federal and State courts have adopted evolving definitions of what amounts to harassment in violation of civil rights and employment laws. Based on a series of decisions by the United States Supreme Court, the general understanding of harassment…
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Categories: Blog
A wake-up call for those addressing corporate wrongdoing
April 15th, 2013
One of the most important tools for ending misdeeds and for compensating the resulting victims is litigation prosecuted on a class-wide basis. Consistent with its apparently escalating hostility toward such systemic legal action, the Supreme Court re…
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Categories: Blog
Class actions under arbitral attack
February 20th, 2013
The Supreme Court has continued to exhibit a preference for arbitration over court litigation in a number of recent rulings, including those that have limited the ability to pursue class actions and collective actions. The Supreme Court’s agenda se…
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Categories: Blog
Immigration reform: short on details, long on consequences
February 11th, 2013
With the re-election of Barack Obama as President, Washington, DC and much of the country have refocused attention on the nation’s broken immigration system. The renewed attention on how we should best address the presence of approximately 12 milli…
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Categories: Blog
A turn for the worse in retaliation cases?
January 30th, 2013
The United States Supreme Court has agreed to review Univ. of Texas Southwestern Med. Ctr. v. Nassar, which raises the question of what legal standard applies to causation under Title VII’s anti-retaliation provision and similarly worded statut…
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United we stand or divided we fall
January 16th, 2013
The Chicago Teachers Union recently filed a class action lawsuit on behalf of African-American members, alleging that the Chicago Public School’s “turnaround” policy discriminates against African-American employees. Under this “turnaround”…
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Tribute to pioneer highlights the crucial link between labor and civil rights
December 26th, 2012
Beginning on January 24, 2013, the History Theatre will feature 19 wonderful performances about the life and times of Nellie Stone Johnson. The production, entitled Nellie, shows the protagonist to be a true trailblazer, knocking down seemingly insur…
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Categories: Blog
Vital legal rights in the crosshairs
November 16th, 2012
This term, the United States Supreme Court will decide a number of high-profile issues in civil rights and employment cases. Among the questions to be tackled by the Court include the validity and proper scope of voting rights protections. Given the…
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Categories: Blog
