The Supreme Court recently issued four important and somewhat controversial employment law decisions, In one case, Janus v. AFSCME, the Supreme Court ruled 5-4 in June 2018 that requiring public employees to pay union dues for collective bargaining violates their free speech rights under the First Amendment. In a May 2018 decision, Epic Systems v. Lewis, the Supreme Court ruled that an employer may lawfully require its employees to agree, as a condition of employment, to take all employment-related disputes to arbitration on an individual basis and to waive their right to participate in a class action suit or class arbitration. In June 2020 in Bostock v. Clayton County, the Court held in a 6-3 decision that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and transgender status. Finally, in July 2020, the Supreme Court ruled 7-2 in Our Lady of Guadalupe v. Morrissey-Berru that in the fact patterns before the Court, teachers in parochial schools, who were not priests, nuns or ministers or held other formal religious titles, but had some religious studies obligations along with their secular teaching responsibilities were barred from bringing action against their employers for age and disability employment discrimination. I would like each of you to participate in two debates regarding whether and why the Supreme Court’s decisions were correct or incorrect. In addition, you will need to write one paper arguing in one of the cases you debated why you believe the Supreme Court got it right or wrong. Your paper can, however, express views different from the side you took during the debate. The papers should be about 4 pages long.
