Spring 2012 Course Schedule

Sex-based Discrimination (LAW-691-001)
Eardley

Meets: 06:00 PM - 08:40 PM (T) - Room 504

Enrolled: 13 / Limit: 18

Administrator Access


Notices

The myWCL course website now has the Chamallas reading available.

Description

This course will examine gender and sex-based discrimination as defined by the Constitution, Title VII, Title IX, and the Equal Pay Act. We will explore individual, pattern and practice and class action gender discrimination cases. Class discussions will focus on the practical considerations of litigating gender discrimination cases as well as the historic, social, economic, and psychological factors that impact representation of clients who experience gender-based discrimination in the 21st century. Students will be evaluated based on classroom participation and an exam. Adjunct Ellen Eardley currently litigates gender and race discrimination cases throughout the country.

Textbooks and Other Materials

The textbook information on this page was provided by the instructor. Students should use this information when considering purchases from the AU Campus Store or other vendors. Students may check to determine if books are currently available for purchase online.

The primary text for this course is: Sex-Based Discrimination by Herma Hill Kay & Martha S. West (6th ed. 2006). ISBN-13: 978-0-314-16141-3; or Sex-Based Discrimination by Herma Hill Kay & Tristin K. Green (7th ed. 2012). ISBN 978-0-314-90717-2. West Publishing recently released the seventh edition of the casebook. If you have not purchased your text yet, I suggest that you try to buy the seventh edition. If you are not able to purchase the seventh edition or if you already purchased the sixth edition, you may use the sixth edition. You only need to purchase one casebook, either the sixth edition or the seventh edition, for this course. Please contact me if you have any questions about the casebook.

First Class Readings

January 10 – Introduction: Sex, Gender, Definitions and Discrimination. Page numbers refer to course textbook unless otherwise noted. REQUIRED READING: (1) Defining Feminist Jurisprudence (6th: 1039-1042) (7th: 1082-1084); (2) Martha Chamallas, “Thinking Like a Feminist,” in Introduction to Feminist Legal Theory, 9-22 (1999). [Note: The Chamallas excerpt is posted on the course website on myWCL.]; (3) What is Equality Between the Sexes? (6th: 1-9) (7th: 1-11); (4) Historical Legal Perspectives on Womanhood (6th:11-21) (7th:12-23); (5) Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution ; (6) Chinyere Ezie, Deconstructing the Body: Transgender and Intersex Identities and Sex Discrimination – The Need for Strict Scrutiny, 20 Colum. J. Gender & L. 141 (2011). OPTIONAL READING: Anne Fausto-Sterling, The Five Sexes Revisited, The Sciences, 18-23 (July/Aug. 2000). Please access this article through the library’s journal database. If you are unable to do so, you may view the article at: http://www.neiu.edu/~lsfuller/5sexesrevisited.htm

Syllabus

Use your MyAU username and password to access the syllabus in the following format(s):