Very seldom is there overt evidence an employer discriminated on the basis of race, sex, disability, etc. Most of the time plaintiff employees have to prove their claim by showing they were treated less favorably than similarly situated employees who were not in the protected class. For example, if there is evidence the employer
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Wal-Mart v. Dukes May Bar Class Action Race Discrimination Suit Against the State of Iowa
Wal-Mart v. Dukes, decided by the U.S. Supreme Court in June, could derail a class action race discrimination case against the State of Iowa that has been pending since 2007 (See our posts here and here on the Wal-Mart case). The Iowa case involves 32 named plaintiffs who claim the State maintained hiring …
Should the Decision to Terminate an Employee Who Uses the “N-word” Depend Upon the Employee’s Race?
A federal judge in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania recently waded into this thorny subject. The case is Burlington v. News Corp., in which a white television reporter for the Fox affiliate in Philadelphia alleges he was terminated for using the “n-word”. The suit claims black employees who also had uttered the word were not even disciplined.
It all …
U of Iowa Study Shows Race Not an Important Factor in Hiring NFL Head Coaches
A recent study by University of Iowa economist John Solow found little evidence of racial discrimination in head coach hiring by National Football League Teams. In 2003, the NFL instituted the "Rooney Rule" to try and increase the number of racial minorities who served as head coaches. The rule required teams to interview…