Employment Discrimination

Following a relatively quiet and uneventful 2012 survey period, the United States Supreme Court stepped up its activity significantly in the area of employment discrimination during the 2013 survey period. The Supreme Court handed down several significant rulings. In University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center v. Nassar, the Court established a but-for rule of causation for purposes of Title VII retaliation cases. In Vance v. Ball State University, the Supreme Court determined the parameters of who qualifies as a supervisor for purposes of establishing vicarious liability in workplace harassment actions under Title VII. At the circuit level, the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit continued to be extremely busy in the employment discrimination area during the survey period. However, continuing the recent trend, few of the decisions handed down were published opinions. In fact, the Eleventh Circuit handed down only two published opinions in the Title VII area and five published opinions in the area of employment discrimination overall. The number of unpublished employment discrimination opinions handed down by the court of appeals continues to be so large that one must begin to question the wisdom of so many parties pursuing continued appeals that have little chance of success in the face of established precedent