In Title VII Case, Supreme Court Wades Through Workplace Landmines

Lindsay Burke’s commentary was included in an article from The National Law Journal covering the Muldrow v. City of St. Louis case. Lindsay shares her employment law insight for the article’s examination of the case’s potential effects on DEI programs.

Lindsay said that ”if the court were to really broaden out [Title VII] and say that any term, condition or benefit of employment is actionable, that could sweep in a lot of things that employers decide in the workplace, and that’s what the questions were getting at. A number of DEI [diversity, equity, and inclusion] programs could be swept in if the court issues a broad ruling. But I do think that lots and lots of DEI programs will remain perfectly lawful and appropriate regardless of the outcome here.”

She added that the Supreme Court seems likely to confine its decision “to the facts. I suspect… they want to try to come up with a ruling that is actionable and feasible to implement that embraces the language of Title VII without opening the floodgates.”