The U.S. Supreme Court will decide if employees of federally funded educational institutions may pursue sex-discrimination claims under Title IX of the Education Amendments Act of 1972 in addition to Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 in the court’s upcoming term, which starts Oct. 5.

Other cases already on the Supreme Court’s docket will address what plaintiffs must plead, damages available to them, what defenses employers can raise, and how the government can pursue monetary remedies, said Dove Burns, an attorney with Kaufman Dolowich in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Torrance, Calif., and New Haven, Conn.

“Don’t focus only on whether the court creates a new workplace rule,” she added. “Decisions about pleading standards, available defenses, and enforcement procedures can have just as much practical impact on an employer’s exposure as changes in substantive employment law.”

The court also has before it a fiduciary breach lawsuit and asylum status case.

Title IX Case

Of the cases currently before the Supreme Court, a Title IX case (Crowther v. Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia) is particularly important for HR, according to Burns.

Crowther “directly addresses the scope of federal employment-discrimination litigation,” she said. If employees of federally funded educational institutions can sue for sex discrimination under Title IX in addition to Title VII, employees will not have to exhaust administrative remedies and generally will be afforded more...

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