The Employment Law Decisions of the October 2000 Term of the Supreme Court: A Review and Analysis

During the October 2000 Term, the Supreme Court delivered major setbacks for employees in Circuit City Stores, Inc. v. Adams, which upheld mandatory and binding arbitration of federal and state employment discrimination claims through arbitration clauses forced upon employees as a condition of employment, and in Board of Trustees of the University of Alabama v. Garrett, which shielded state employers from federal court law suits brought under the Americans with Disabilities Act by victims of disability discrimination in employment. Employees escaped harm in Pollard v. E.I du Pont de Nemours & Co., in which the Court followed nearly unanimous circuit court of appeals precedent and rather clear statutory language in deciding that the Title VII front pay remedy is not subject to the limitations on compensatory damages (known as caps ) set forth in the Civil Rights Act of 1991. This article discusses these and other cases from the October 2000 Term of the Court, involving arbitration, attorney\u27s fees, opposition to sexual harassment and ERISA preemption