Litigation Tips for Sex Discrimination Cases

Of the many areas covered by workplace anti-discrimination laws, sex discrimination consistently is one of the most prominent, both in terms of the amount of litigation and the variety of issues that arise. In particular, pay equity had been a major priority of the Obama Administration, with the Ledbetter Act, pertaining to the statute of limitations in pay discrimination lawsuits, being the first bill signed into law by President Obama. Further, there have been significant developments in recent years in Supreme Court case law in the areas of sex harassment and pregnancy discrimination, which significantly affect the proofs and defenses for such claims.

Join Jeffrey Burstein, Regional Attorney for the New York District of the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the agency that enforces federal workplace anti-discrimination laws, for a discussion regarding litigating the multiple varieties of workplace sex discrimination claims. From both his position with EEOC and his previous work with the New Jersey Division on Civil Rights, Mr. Burstein is experienced in litigating sex discrimination cases in both the federal and state courts.

Learning Objectives:

1. Articulate and apply Federal, state and local statutes that address sex discrimination in employment, and the pros and cons of using these different statutes and forums for litigating sex discrimination claims

2. Understand the current status of pay equity laws, including the use of the Equal Pay Act along with Title VII of the Civil Rights Act to assert claims of sex-based discrimination in compensation, and the effect of the Ledbetter Act on the scope of pay discrimination claims

3. Identify pregnancy discrimination claims, and the new framework for such litigation as a result of the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Young v. United Parcel Service, 135 S.Ct. 1338 (2015)

4. Learn about the various kinds of sex harassment claims, including: (a) the difference between quid pro quo and hostile work environment claims; (b) the severe or pervasive standard for hostile environment claims; and (c) employer defenses to liability, including those arising from the U.S. Supreme Court decisions in Faragher v. City of Boca Raton, 524 U.S. 774 (1998), Burlington Indust., Inc. v. Ellerth, 524 U.S. 742 (1998), and Vance v. Ball State Univ., 133 S.Ct. 2434 (2015)