Employment Civil Rights

Research on this project culminated with the book project, Rights on Trial: How Workplace Discrimination Law Perpetuates Inequality (University of Chicago Press, 2017). More information can be found at rightsontrial.org.

Research conducted in this project illustrates how employment civil rights litigation entrenches patterns of discrimination in and out of the workplace. Though significant legislative and judicial progress has been made, workplace discrimination based on race, gender, age, and disability persists. The research reveals the ways that employment civil rights litigation can underscore existing systems of privilege. The research exposes how many plaintiffs struggle to obtain a lawyer as a result of structural inequalities and lawyer biases.