4 Questions The Justices' Bias Ruling Leaves To Lower Courts

4 Questions The Justices' Bias Ruling Leaves To Lower Courts

April 17, 2024, Law360

Lindsay Burke’s commentary was included in a Law360 article covering the Supreme Court’s unanimous decision in Muldrow v. St. Louis that softened the requirements for bringing a Title VII case relating to a job transfer. The article also discusses the implications of the Supreme Court’s holding for lower courts, which states that workers need only show "some injury" and that they were "worse off" from a transfer to bring a viable Title VII claim.

Lindsay said the ruling's scope remains an open question. She added it's not a stretch to imagine that the Muldrow opinion will be extended to apply to Title VII battles over other kinds of workplace decisions.

“The court's decision is cabined to the facts of this case, but because the analysis focuses so heavily on the statutory text of Title VII, I do think that lower courts grappling with different types of employment actions will look to this analysis of the language,” Lindsay observed. “It could potentially pull in other employment decisions in the workplace that cause some kind of injury or leave a person ‘worse off.’” “I think that could catch some other things that haven't previously been actionable,” she said.

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