Labor & Employment Law

US Supreme Court Tackles Employment Law Cases This Week

Today, the Court will hear argument in Gomez-Perez v. Potter, on whether the Age Discrimination in Employment Act bars retaliation by public employers for the filing of age discrimination complaints.  For more information about the facts of the case, click here.

On Wednesday, the Court is scheduled to hear oral argument in CBOCS West v. Humphries, on whether a race retaliation claim can be brought under 42 U.S.C. § 1981 (Section 1981).  Section 1981 provides that any “person within the jurisdiction of the United States” has the same right to “make and enforce” contracts, regardless of their skin color.  Section 1981 protects parties to a contract (both at the time of formation and post-formation).  The argument arises that Section 1981 applies to aspects of the employment relationship because that relationship is considered contractual, but courts have not defined to what extent this protection exists in the employment context.  Employees who have not filed a lawsuits within the time limits proscribed by Title VII (which allows for retaliation claims), often revert to Section 1981 in order to keep their claim alive. 

Full post as published by California Labor & Employment Defense Blog on February 19, 2008 (boomark / email).