Employment Discrimination: U.S. Supreme Court Cases

Below is a list of U.S. Supreme Court cases involving employees' rights and employment discrimination, including links to the full text of the U.S. Supreme Court decisions.

• Griggs v. Duke Power Co. (1971)
  In this case, the Court decided that certain education requirements and intelligence tests used as conditions of employment acted to exclude African-American job applicants, did not relate to job performance, and were prohibited.

• Cleveland Bd. of Ed. V. LaFleur (1974)
  Found that Ohio public school mandatory maternity leave rules for pregnant teachers violate constitutional guarantees of due process.

• Meritor Savings Bank v. Vinson (1986)
  Found that a claim of "hostile environment" sexual harassment is a form of sex discrimination that may be brought under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

• Johnson v. Transportation Agency (1987)
  The Court decides that a county transportation agency appropriately took into account an employee's sex as one factor in determining whether she should be promoted.

• Oncale v. Sundowner Offshore Serv., Inc. (1987)
  In this case, the Court held that sex discrimination consisting of same-sex sexual harassment can form the basis for a valid claim under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

• Burlington Industries, Inc. Ellerth (1998)
  Holding that an employee who refuses unwelcome and threatening sexual advances of a supervisor (but suffers no real job consequences) may recover against the employer without showing the employer is at fault for the supervisor's actions.

• Faragher v. City of Boca Raton (1998)
  The Court decides that an employer may be liable for sexual discrimination caused by a supervisor, but liability depends on the reasonableness of the employer's conduct, as well as the reasonableness of the plaintiff victim's conduct.