Civil Rights

This is FindLaw’s collection of Civil Rights articles, part of the Litigation and Disputes section of the Corporate Counsel Center. A civil right is an enforceable right or privilege, which if interfered with by another gives rise to an action for injury. Examples of civil rights are freedom of speech, press, and assembly, the right to vote, freedom from involuntary servitude, and the right to equality in public places. Corporations have been gaining more civil rights in the courts throughout the years. Law articles in this archive are predominantly written by lawyers for a professional audience seeking business solutions to legal issues. Start your free research with FindLaw.

Civil Litigation

Civil Rights Articles

Supreme Court Narrows The Reach Of Disabilities Act

Since it was enacted in 1990, the federal courts have attempted to decide who is protected by the Americans with Disabilities Act ("ADA"). This judicial analysis, emerging case-by-case and without any clear consensus, has been necessary because the ...
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Training Supervisors: A Critical Link in a Successful Substance Abuse Prevention Program

On August 28, 1991, a New York subway operator crashed his train near a station in lower Manhattan. Tragically, five people were killed and more than 200 others were injured. After the accident the operator was tested for drugs and alcohol. He ...
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Understanding the Americans with Disabilities Act

On July 26, 1990, President George Bush signed into law "The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990" (ADA). This law gives civil rights protection to individuals with disabilities, similar to that provided to individuals on the basis of race, sex ...
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The Truth Shall Set You Free, But Fib and You May Fail

Honesty has always been the best policy. Recently, the United States Supreme Court decided a case that emphasized that .rule. and issued a decision that will probably have a significant influence upon every discrimination case that will follow. The ...
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Supreme Court Decision Highlights Need for Employer Anti-Discrimination Policies

Last month the U.S. Supreme Court issued an opinion further clarifying the rules courts must use in deciding employment discrimination cases. The Court's decision, Reeves v. Sanderson Plumbing Products, Inc., also underscores the need for employers ...
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Support Your Local Arsonist Or The Tilted Playing Field In New York

The topic is the current New York rule that requires an insurer, in defending an action on a policy of fire insurance on the ground of arson, to establish that defense by "clear and convincing evidence." The inquiry is whether that rule justifies ...
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Supreme Court: ADEA Does Not Allow Reverse Age Claims

In an opinion issued February 24, 2004, the United States Supreme Court held that the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 ("ADEA") does not prevent an employer from favoring older employees over younger employees. General Dynamics Land ...
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U.S. Supreme Court Rules That Receipt Of Social Security Disability Benefits Does Not Preclude Disability Discrimination Claim

The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled, in Cleveland v Policy Management Systems Corp, that pursuit and receipt of social security disability insurance ("SSDI") benefits does not automatically preclude the recipient from pursuing a claim of discrimination ...
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Supreme Court Side-Steps Ruling in Refusal to Rehire Rehabilitated Drug Abuser Case

On December 2, 2003, the Supreme Court of the United States issued an opinion in Raytheon Company v. Hernandez. The case arose under the Americans With Disabilities Act of 1990 ("ADA") and centered around an employer's unwritten policy of refusing ...

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Terminating Employees Who Claim They Are Disabled

The anti-discrimination laws do not prevent an employer from firing an employee who is not doing his/her job. They simply require that the employer have a legitimate non-discriminatory reason for the termination. “Non-discriminatory” means the ...
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