Lifelong learning and age discrimination in employment

Age discrimination in employment can be perfectly lawful in the United Kingdom. Older workers are discriminated against when they seek employment and whilst they are in employment, as well as being encouraged to leave the workforce. One of the purposes of a programme of lifelong learning is to aid the employability and career progression of individuals within the workforce. There is, however, little evidence to show that those who enter or return to higher education as mature students fare any better than other workers in avoiding discrimination based upon their chronological age. The Government introduced a voluntary code of practice on age diversity in employment and resisted legislation on the subject. There appears, however, to be a contradiction between this resistance and the Government's encouragement of the principle of lifelong learning.     

Using statistics in employment discrimination cases.

Statistics play an important role in employment discrimination cases, and this role will expand as the legal profession becomes increasingly aware of the utility of the increasingly sophisticated statistical methods available. Historically, plaintiffs in employment discrimination cases have used statistics to establish prima facie cases concerning inequities in areas such as wage rates, personnel selection, promotion, layoff, and termination decisions. Defendants have also employed statistics to demonstrate the fairness of employment practices and policies--for example, by providing statistical evidence of the validity of a test used in personnel selection. This article provides an overview of the role of statistics and the major statistical techniques employed in discrimination cases.     

South Africa: airline found guilty of employment discrimination

On 28 September 2000, the Constitutional Court of South Africa ruled that South African Airways (SAA) violated the constitutional rights of Jacques Hoffmann in September 1996 by refusing to employ him as a cabin attendant on the ground that he is HIV-positive.     

Conceiving harm: disability discrimination in assisted reproductive technologies

Applying the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) to denials of treatment by assisted reproductive technology (ART) practitioners raises particularly challenging legal and ethical issues. On the one hand, the danger that physicians will inappropriately deny treatment to patients with disabilities is especially worrisome in the context of ARTs, given the widespread stigma associated with reproduction by individuals with disabilities. On the other hand, patients' disabilities may sometimes have potentially devastating implications for any child resulting from treatment, including the possibility that the child will be born with life-threatening or seriously debilitating impairments. Some physicians have strong ethical objections to helping patients become pregnant in the face of such risks. In this Article, Professor Coleman develops a framework for applying the ADA to disability-based denials of ARTs that addresses these competing considerations. In recognizing risks to the future child as a potential defense to a disability discrimination claim, Professor Coleman rejects the view of some commentators that such risks are relevant to reproductive decisions only if the child is likely to suffer so much that he or she would prefer not to exist. Instead, he proposes that, when a patient's disabilities create significant risks to the future child, the question should not be whether the child's life is likely to be so awful that nonexistence would be preferable, but how the risks and benefits of the requested treatment compare to those associated with other available reproductive and parenting options. Professor Coleman provides a theoretical justification for adopting this comparative framework, and examines how ADA precedents developed in other contexts should be applied to decisions about ARTs.     

妇女平等就业权的宪法维度——性别就业歧视普适性评价标准的切入

妇女平等就业权是实现男女平等的基础性权利,是妇女人权的重要组成部分,也是实现妇女宪法"人格尊严"的重要机制.中国宪法上的平等是一种形式平等,这种立法模式下妇女平等就业权也是形式平等下的宪法权利.形式平等下的妇女就业平等保护面临着诸多难题和危机,为走出危机,破解妇女就业平等保护的困境,必须确立就业性别歧视的普适性评价标准,并以此为基石,整合妇女就业平等权保护的法律机制.     

US: appeals court dismisses employment discrimination suit by HIV-positive dental hygienist

Shortly before the decision in Toyota Motor Manufacturing, the US Court of Appeals (11th Circuit) issued another restrictive judgment, in a case dealing specifically with HIV-based discrimination. On 21 December 2001, in Waddell v Valley Forge Dental Associates Inc, it dismissed the case of a dental hygienist who sued his employer for suspending him from treating patients after he tested HIV-positive. The decision is a setback for efforts to ensure that the Americans with Disabilities Act translates into actual protection against discrimination for people with HIV/AIDS.     

Law enforcement employment discrimination based on sexual orientation: A selective review of case law

Homosexuality has been the subject of discrimination from Biblical times through the present. Homosexuals continue to experience pervasive forms of discrimination, including denial of employment which they may be otherwise qualified to obtain. One profession that is particularly open in its discrimination against homosexual employees is law enforcement. This article traces the development of homosexuals’ rights as they specifically relate to employment in law enforcement. Examples of common arguments raised by police administrators to justify such actions are examined with each illustrated by an example from relevant case law. Finally, areas in which the law has begun to provide greater protection for the employment rights of homosexuals are identified.