NCJ Number
174929
Journal
ABA Journal Volume: 83 (October 1997) Issue: Dated: Pages: 0-44
Date Published
1997
Length
4 pages
Annotation
When the U.S. Supreme Court opens in 1997-98, it will consider two important employment discrimination cases, one involving the use of race as a factor in employment decisions and the other involving sexual harassment by a person of the same sex as the victim.
Abstract
The outcome in the affirmative action case Piscataway Township Board of Education v. Taxman could affect nearly every workplace in the country. This case will interpret or reinterpret Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which applies to all private and public employers with more than 15 employees. The Taxman case involved the laying off of one of two teachers in New Jersey; the employees were essentially identical except for their race. The case of Oncale v. Sundowner Offshore Services, Inc., also involves Title VII. This case involves same-sex harassment involving crude horseplay among men working on an oil drilling platform in Louisiana. Other cases among the 48 cases granted review prior to the summer recess will focus on whether fringe political candidates have a First Amendment right to appear on public television debates, whether police officers can be sued for high-speed pursuits that result in injuries or death, and whether the Federal Government can continue to practice a form of sex discrimination in deciding on a child's citizenship. The justices are also deciding which of some 1,500 appellate petitions that arrived over the summer to review during the term. Figures, tables, and photographs