Employment Discrimination Law and Practice

This course integrates doctrinal coverage with instruction in practical lawyering skills, primarily legal writing. Like the 3-credit offering of Employment Discrimination (CRN 5216), this course will examine federal statutory law as it applies to employment discrimination, with an emphasis on discrimination based on race, sex, color, ethnicity, national origin, religion and age. The most prominent statutes in this area are Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, and an older civil rights statute from the Reconstruction era, 42 U.S.C. § 1981. The course will explore the substantive meanings of “discrimination” under these acts, the models of proof for establishing a claim, the theoretical underpinnings of the statutes, and some of the procedural and remedial issues relevant to employment discrimination law.

A second major component of the course will focus on developing practical lawyering skills, with an emphasis on legal writing. Throughout the semester and in lieu of a final examination, students will draft and refine various documents typical of the work of a lawyer who counsels or represents clients with respect to employment discrimination issues. Most class sessions will focus on the substantive course content, but several classes will be devoted to discussion of objectives and methods for the writing projects, as well as development and critique of students’ own writing.