PRACTITIONER BLOG

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

Impact Fund joins NAACP LDF Amicus Brief defending standing in ADA discrimination case
Civil Rights, Class Action Standing Teddy Basham-Witherington Civil Rights, Class Action Standing Teddy Basham-Witherington

Impact Fund joins NAACP LDF Amicus Brief defending standing in ADA discrimination case

The brief calls out Acheson’s attempts to argue the merits of Ms. Laufer’s case as a distraction to the straightforward standing inquiry at hand. Standing is a threshold issue that requires plaintiff’s allegations be taken as true. This low bar is cleared by the mere allegation of a concrete injury. Arguments about the merit of Ms. Laufer’s case including whether she experienced the “right type of discrimination” that warrants ADA protection and the degree of emotional harm she suffered are inappropriate to the threshold matter of standing and subject to review in future motions. In summary, Ms. Laufer alleges that she personally experienced discrimination, a harm in itself sufficient for standing, so Ms. Laufer has standing.

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Artificial Intelligence: How the Internet’s Gatekeeper Could Affect Your Civil Rights
Artificial Intelligence, Civil Rights Teddy Basham-Witherington Artificial Intelligence, Civil Rights Teddy Basham-Witherington

Artificial Intelligence: How the Internet’s Gatekeeper Could Affect Your Civil Rights

Artificial intelligence prevents us from being inundated with irrelevant information – and that raises an important question. Who determines what is relevant or irrelevant? And how do they decide? If an artificial intelligence program delivers me Chopin instead of Lizzo, it would be surprising. But if an artificial intelligence program delivers me a job ad for administrative assistant and prevents me from seeing one for car mechanic, that could be illegal.

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SCOTUS Amicus Brief: Class Actions Vital To Equal Opportunity In Employment
Class Actions, Civil Rights, Employment Discrimination Teddy Basham-Witherington Class Actions, Civil Rights, Employment Discrimination Teddy Basham-Witherington

SCOTUS Amicus Brief: Class Actions Vital To Equal Opportunity In Employment

A fair workplace, free from discrimination, is an American ideal. Many of our nations F500 companies reflect this value in their forward-facing materials and practices, but sadly, at the contractual level with workers, the promise of an even playing field gets tilted…

That’s why, on August 17, 2017, together with NAACP Legal Defense & Educational Fund and Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll PLLC, we filed an amicus brief in the U.S. Supreme Court in National Labor Relations Board v. Murphy Oil USA.

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H.R. 985: Holding Down Civil Rights Class Actions
Class Actions, Civil Rights, HR 985 Teddy Basham-Witherington Class Actions, Civil Rights, HR 985 Teddy Basham-Witherington

H.R. 985: Holding Down Civil Rights Class Actions

121 Civil Rights Non-Profits and 87 Ally Firms Oppose H.R. 985. On February 14, the Impact Fund submitted a letter on behalf of 121 civil rights non-profit organizations and advocates, joined by 87 ally law firms, to oppose H.R. 985 (“Fairness in Class Action Litigation Act of 2017”). H.R. 985, currently pending in the U.S. House of Representatives, would upend decades of settled class action law and undermine the enforcement of U.S. civil rights law.

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