NTEU Argues for Broad Protection from
Employment Discrimination in Supreme Court Brief

NTEU filed a brief in the U.S. Supreme Court in a case that will determine whether any discrimination concerning terms and conditions of employment can be challenged under the federal antidiscrimination statute or whether such discrimination has to be significant (e.g., involve a loss in pay or benefits) to be actionable.

NTEU’s brief supports the Petitioner, JaTonya Muldrow, whose employer, the City of St. Louis, transferred her from her job as police sergeant because her supervisor wanted to replace her with a male sergeant. The lower court held that Ms. Muldrow’s sex discrimination claim could not succeed because her transfer did not affect her title, salary or benefits.

Offering the Supreme Court an additional route to ruling for Ms. Muldrow, NTEU’s brief explains that, even if Ms. Muldrow has to show that she was discriminated against in a significant way (which she should not, as she explains in her brief), Congress viewed all discriminatory job transfers and reassignments as significant enough to challenge. NTEU draws on the text of the statute that protects federal employees from discrimination for its argument.

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