Image above: Betty Dukes with Senator Al Franken. The author, Deborah Vagins, to the immediate right, joined by coalition partners.
Over a decade ago, I had the great honor to be part of a team representing Betty Dukes, an employee at Wal-Mart who had received unfair treatment at her job and had decided to do something about it. Betty soon became the face of a large class of women who worked at Wal-Mart and faced similar types of discrimination in the workplace. These women banded together, from all across the country, to take on sex discrimination at one of the world’s largest employers—and through it all, Betty Dukes remained at the forefront fighting for justice. “In this life,” said Betty, “you have to stand up or be trampled.” The ACLU co-authored a brief before the Supreme Court, joined by a large number of civil rights groups, highlighting the gender stereotypes that the women were banding together to challenge.
By Ariela Migdal, ACLU Women's Rights Project at 4:12pm
The New York Times reported yesterday that Wal-Mart is rolling out "women-friendly plans" to buy more from women-owned businesses and to help women who work for Wal-Mart's suppliers. While the company acknowledged that the "majority" of its own employees are women, its plan (as reported in the newspaper) seems to ignore the fundamental disparities in salaries and promotions that were at issue in a nationwide class action lawsuit that the Supreme Court ruled on in June.
Some readers may recall the story of Joseph Casias, the model employee who was fired from his job at Wal-Mart for using medical marijuana in accordance with state law. The ACLU was in court today to argue that an appeals court should reinstate a lawsuit we filed on Casias' behalf, charging Wal-Mart and the manager of its Battle Creek, Mich., store with wrongfully firing him.
Today, the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit hears oral argument in Davis v. Cintas, one of the first nationwide class action discrimination cases to be argued since the Supreme Court issued its decision in Wal-Mart Stores v. Dukes last June. The court will decide whether women around the country who applied to be sales representatives at Cintas — a company that rents uniforms and supplies to businesses — can bring a class action to challenge what they claim are Cintas’s discriminatory hiring practices.
The Supreme Court ruled this morning 5-4 that a nationwide class action lawsuit challenging sex discrimination in pay and promotions at Wal-Mart cannot go forward.
On March 29, Wal-Mart v. Dukes will be argued in front of the Supreme Court. At issue is whether this sex discrimination case against Wal-Mart should be allowed to proceed as a class action. The ACLU submitted a friend-of-the-court brief arguing that class actions are appropriate when employees allege that a company’s policy allowing managers to subjectively decide who receives promotions and pay increases has led to gender disparities, even in a company as large as Wal-Mart. Today we’re featuring quotes from women who have commented on our posts about the case, with striking examples of sex discrimination they have experienced on the job.
Tomorrow, Wal-Mart v. Dukes will be argued in front of the Supreme Court. At issue is whether this sex discrimination case against Wal-Mart should be allowed to proceed as a class action. The ACLU submitted a friend-of-the-court brief arguing that class actions are appropriate when employees allege that a company’s policy allowing managers to subjectively decide who receives promotions and pay increases has led to gender disparities, even in a company as large as Wal-Mart. Today we’re featuring quotes from women who have commented on our posts about the case, with striking examples of sex discrimination they have experienced on the job.
Joseph Casias has battled sinus cancer and an inoperable brain tumor for more than a decade. His condition has required extensive treatment and chemotherapy, interferes with his ability to speak, and is a source of severe and daily pain. The pain relief medicine prescribed by Joseph's oncologist helped a little, but he continued to experience constant pain as well as nausea, a side effect of the medication.
Luckily, Joseph lives in Michigan, where a voter-enacted statute allows the use of marijuana to treat certain severe medical conditions like his. Joseph's oncologist recommended that he try marijuana in accordance with the state law; he did, and immediately found it very helpful to treat his condition.
The Supreme Court ended the 2010 term today, delivering the much-anticipated decision in Brown v. Entertainment Merchants Association, a case that challenged California's ban of the sale of violent video games to minors. In a 7-2 decision, the Court found the state's law violated the First Amendment. The Court called California's attempt to put video games in a new category not protected by the First Amendment "unpersuasive."
June 2011 marks the 40th anniversary of President Richard Nixon's declaration of a "war on drugs" — a war that has cost roughly a trillion dollars, has produced little to no effect on the supply of or demand for drugs in the United States, and has contributed to making America the world's largest incarcerator. Throughout the month, check back daily for posts about the drug war, its victims and what needs to be done to restore fairness and create effective policy.
