Employment Discrimination

The United States Supreme Court was the center of the action in the area of employment discrimination during the 2011 survey period. The most talked about decision was the Court's opinion in Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. v. Dukes. The much-anticipated decision in Dukes was the most significant opinion handed down by the Court in the area of employment discrimination class actions since its 1982 decision in General Telephone Co. v. Falcon, and perhaps ever. The Court also continued to broaden the scope of potential Title VII retaliation actions with its decision in Thompson v. North American Stainless, LP.

As for the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, the court continued to hand down a large number of employment discrimination decisions, but virtually all of them were unpublished. In fact, the court handed down only one published Title VII opinion during the survey period, and only three published opinions in the employment discrimination area overall.