PRACTITIONER BLOG

Read our analyses of developments in Impact Litigation and stay current on class action law

BROWN UNIVERSITY RE-LEARNS TITLE IX LESSON: DON’T “RILE UP” THE AMY “COHENS OF THE WORLD”
Title IX, Class Actions Teddy Basham-Witherington Title IX, Class Actions Teddy Basham-Witherington

BROWN UNIVERSITY RE-LEARNS TITLE IX LESSON: DON’T “RILE UP” THE AMY “COHENS OF THE WORLD”

Cohen v. Brown University, which the First Circuit just referred to as “This landmark Title IX case,” started in April 1992, after the school stopped funding its varsity women’s gymnastics and volleyball teams. Eleven female athletes won precedent-setting rulings, preserved their teams, and forced Brown to comply with Title IX notwithstanding Brown violating the agreement in the open to “kill this pestilential thing.”

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Impact Fund & Amici to Florida Court of Appeals: Local Non-Discrimination Ordinances Must Be Respected
LGBTQ Discrimination, Amicus Brief Teddy Basham-Witherington LGBTQ Discrimination, Amicus Brief Teddy Basham-Witherington

Impact Fund & Amici to Florida Court of Appeals: Local Non-Discrimination Ordinances Must Be Respected

Today, we filed an amicus brief in the Florida court of appeals along with the National Center for Lesbian RightsEquality Florida, and civil rights firm Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll PLLC. We were joined by eight additional organizations representing LGBTQ people, workers, women, and other concerned communities.  Our brief documents the ongoing discrimination faced by LGBTQ people, people of color, people with disabilities, and older people in Florida.  It also describes the diversity of local human rights ordinances across the state that prohibit discrimination against vulnerable groups that are not protected by state law, including LGBTQ people, elderly tenants, veterans, survivors of domestic violence, and workers at small businesses. 

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Impact Fund and Allies File Amicus Brief Urging SCOTUS to Protect LGBTQ Workers
LGBTQ Workers, Workplace Discrimination Teddy Basham-Witherington LGBTQ Workers, Workplace Discrimination Teddy Basham-Witherington

Impact Fund and Allies File Amicus Brief Urging SCOTUS to Protect LGBTQ Workers

LGBTQ workers are entitled to the full protections of our nation’s laws.  If the Supreme Court rules that Title VII does not prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity, it will create an arbitrary and painful carve-out to the landmark civil rights law, leaving LGBTQ workers vulnerable to discrimination and harassment on the job.  The Impact Fund and our allies urge the Court to adopt a uniform, protective standard that will fulfill Title VII’s promise of equal employment opportunity for all.  

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