Civil Rights

On Monday, June 15^th, the Supreme Court ruled that it is illegal for an employer to discriminate against an employee because of their sexual orientation or gender identit

Recently, the U.S. Department of Education made two announcements that will affect the legal landscape once implemented.

ODE news:  Every Student Succeeds Act webinars and stakeholder meetings and comment period for revisions to learning standards ending

As part of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), the Ohio Department of Education (ODE) is required to create a Student Success Plan.  The plan will describe how local, state and federal programs are aligned.  ODE is inviting school board members, district employees, teachers, parents and any other interested parties to attend one of ten stakeholder meetings to share ideas for the development of the Student Success Plan.   

With less than a month remaining in the current term, the U.S. Supreme Court delivered an opinion on Monday that could have potential employment implications for Ohio school districts.

In EEOC v. Abercrombie & Fitch Stores, a clothing store declined to hire Samantha Elauf, a 17-year-old Muslim, because a religious headscarf that she wore to her interview conflicted with Abercrombie’s employee dress code policy.

Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 prohibits gender discrimination in any education program or activity that is supported by federal monies.  On April 24, the US Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (“OCR”) reminded schools receiving federal dollars that they must designate at least one employee to coordinate Title IX compliance and released a guidance package relating to Title IX compliance.

On January 25, 2013, the U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights (OCR) issued a Dear Colleague Letter (DCL) notifying schools that students with disabilities must be afforded equal access to extracurricular athletics. The DCL comes after the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) published a report noting the positive impact that extracurricular athletics has on students, especially those with disabilities.

The Harlem Shake is a popular dance video that has spawned hundreds of thousands of imitators. For those of you unfamiliar with the dance craze, a few of my favorite versions can be found here, here, and here. The videos usually feature a person dancing alone, then a group joining in wildly a

This spring, the United States Supreme Court will hear the case of City of Ontario v. Quon, which questions whether the Fourth Amendment protects the privacy of text messages that a government employee sends by electronic device.

The Supreme Court held today that a strip search of a teenager violated the 4th Amendment. See coverage from the New York Times for details on Safford v. Redding. The Court also issued an opinion in the legal battle that started in 1988 over Arizona's funding of English language education.