Catherwood LibraryILR School

Starting Wednesday, the Supreme Court will hear arguments in the latest of a series of cases to pit arguments of the immunity of states as sovereign political entities against monetary damages in lawsuits brought by state employees under certain federal workplace and discrimination laws. The case stems from the state of Nevada's illegal and possibly discriminatory decision to fire a male social worker who took time off under the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) to care for his wife---seriously injured in a car crash---and refused to return to work before his federally protected leave ran out. Although the Supreme Court has continuously sided five-four with state attorneys in similar recent cases, the possible involvement of sex discrimination would give a constitutional imprimatur to the FMLA, the social workers and his case under the Fourteenth Amendment, and six states including New York have weighed in against Nevada.