Employment Discrimination Law

The main focus of this course is Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the landmark federal statute that prohibits employment discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.  It is hard to overstate the importance of this statute.  Today, Title VII claims make up a significant portion of the entire docket of the federal courts.  In this course, you will learn how Title VII claims are framed, litigated, and defended.  You will develop the conceptual tools you will need to understand not only Title VII but also the various other employment discrimination statutes that build on it, such as the federal Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) and the employment laws of nearly every state, including Chapter 21 of the Texas Labor Code.  In addition to learning the doctrinal machinery of employment discrimination claims, you will learn the competing concepts and theories of discrimination that are the heart of this area of the law.  The ways of thinking about discrimination that you’ll hone in this course should prove useful to you in many areas outside the employment context.