Michigan Civil Rights Litigation Lawyers
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The term civil rights generally refers to the enjoyment of such guarantees as are contained in federal and state constitutional and statutory provisions designed to prevent discrimination against persons because of their race, color, sex, age, religion, or national origin. 15 Am Jur 2d Civil Rights §1.
The ultimate purpose of all civil rights legislation is to guarantee nondiscrimination in treatment and equality before the law. To achieve such a purpose, civil rights legislation generally requires that each individual be considered on the basis of his or her individual capabilities and not on the basis of any characteristic generally attributable to a group. Id.
The first true federal civil rights legislation, 42 USC 1981–1988, known as the Reconstruction Civil Rights Acts, was enacted in the aftermath of the Civil War and was designed to remedy the “badges and incidents” of slavery. Dawson v Pastrick, 441 F Supp 133, 140 (ND Ind 1977). Nearly one hundred years later, Congress passed the comprehensive Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 USC 2000a et seq., which prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, sex, color, religion, or national origin in public accommodations, public facilities, public schools, federally assisted programs, and employment opportunities.
Other major federal civil rights legislation includes the Equal Pay Act of 1963, 29 USC 206(d), designed to insure that men and women are paid equal wages for doing equal work; Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 (Title IX), 20 USC 1681–1686, which prohibits sex discrimination in education; the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 (ADEA), 29 USC 621 et seq., which prohibits discrimination in employment against workers over the age of 40; the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA), 42 USC 12101 et seq., as amended by the ADA Amendments Act of 2008, Pub L No 110-325, 122 Stat 3553 (2008), which prohibits discrimination against individuals with mental or physical disabilities; the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009, 42 USC 2000e-5(e)(3), which amends the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the ADEA, and modifies the operation of the ADA and the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, to state that the 180-day statute of limitations for filing an equal-pay lawsuit renews with each discriminatory paycheck; and the Fair Housing Act of 1968, 42 USC 3601 et seq., which attempts to eliminate discrimination in the sale or rental of housing.
The ADA Amendments Act expands the coverage and protections of the ADA, with the stated intent of restoring the original purpose and scope of the ADA. See §2(b)(1). The ADA Amendments Act expressly overturns a series of Supreme Court decisions that, beginning in 1999, narrowed the definition of what constitutes a “disability” under the ADA. The Act focuses almost entirely on ADA coverage and definitional issues, leaving intact existing statutory language and caselaw concerning other important ADA concepts, such as reasonable accommodation, essential functions, undue hardship, direct threat, and qualified individuals.
Michigan’s Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act (ELCRA), MCL 37.2101 et seq., was enacted in 1976, and was modeled after Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VII). The ELCRA prohibits discrimination in employment, public accommodations, educational institutions, and housing on the basis of race, sex, age, religion, national origin, height, weight, or marital status. The Michigan Persons with Disabilities Civil Rights Act (PDCRA), MCL 37.1101 et seq., formerly known as the Michigan Handicappers’ Civil Rights Act (MHCRA), was also enacted in 1976 to prohibit discrimination against persons with mental or physical disabilities.
Most of the published civil rights cases, both state and federal, arise in the employment context, as opposed to public accommodations, education, or other public facilities.
Michigan Litigation Law's Online Director and Attorney closely studies both state and federal law involving numerous types of claims. For example: race discrimination (get the best free information in Michigan by an attorney that reviewed how the same issues were treated in similar situations involving sex or age discrimination). Further, because many of Michigan's state laws are based on federal statutes, the Michigan state courts often look to federal decisions for guidance. Our Michigan Civil Rights Lawyer stays familiar with both state and federal caselaw on these particular issues to bring you the "best free online legal resource in Michigan."
Find the Best Free Info From Michigan Litigation Lawyers on:
Michigan Civil Rights Act
Michigan Civil Rights Violations by Police
Michigan Civil Rights Act Sexual Harassment
Federal Civil Rights Law 42 U.S.C. 1985
Michigan Civil Rights Claims
Michigan Civil Rights False Claims
Michigan's Elliot-Larsen Civil Rights Act MCL 37.2101
The ELCRA, MCL 37.2101 et seq., prohibits discrimination in employment, public accommodations, educational institutions, and housing on the basis of race, sex, age, religion, national origin, height, weight, or marital status. The act also prohibits retaliation against an individual for his or her (1) participation in a proceeding regarding an ELCRA violation or (2) opposition to an ELCRA violation. MCL 37.2701. Neither the ELCRA nor Title VII expressly prohibits discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, though the Seventh Circuit has held that Title VII prohibits discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, creating a circuit split on the issue. Hively v Ivy Tech Cmty Coll of Indiana, No 15-1720, 2017 US App LEXIS 5839 (7th Cir Apr 4, 2017).
The antidiscrimination provisions of the ELCRA are substantially the same as those under Title VII, and Michigan courts use the shifting burden of proof analysis applicable to Title VII claims, as set forth in McDonnell Douglas Corp v Green, 411 US 792 (1973). Therefore, federal cases interpreting discrimination claims under Title VII are persuasive authority in cases brought under the ELCRA. Barbour v Department of Soc Servs, 198 Mich App 183, 497 NW2d 216 (1993).
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Federal Civil Rights Claims
The comprehensive Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 USC 2000a et seq., prohibits discrimination on the basis or race, sex, color, religion, or national origin in public accommodations, public facilities, public schools, federally assisted programs, and employment opportunities. The act further prohibits retaliation against an individual for exercising his or her rights under the act. 42 USC 2000e-3(a).
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Michigan Whistleblowers' Protection Act
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Michigan's Breastfeeding Anti-Discrimination Act
In 2014, Michigan adopted the Breastfeeding Antidiscrimination Act. Codified at MCL 37.231–.233, the act applies to all places of “public accommodation,” including businesses and educational institutions as well as any “refreshment, entertainment, recreation, health or transportation facility of any kind.” MCL 37.231(a). The act also prohibits discrimination by any person with control over any “public service,” including public facilities, departments, agencies, or boards or commissions of the state as well as any county, city, village, township or district. The act does not apply to a state or county correctional facility with respect to a person serving “a sentence of imprisonment.” MCL 37.231(b)
The act prohibits:
- The refusal, denial, or withholding of full and equal enjoyment of goods, services, facilities, privileges, advantages, or accommodations because a woman is breastfeeding a child; and
- The printing, circulating, posting, mailing, or otherwise publishing a statement, notice, advertisement, or sign indicating that equal enjoyment will be refused, withheld from, or denied from a woman because she is breastfeeding her child or that a woman’s patronage or presence in a place of public accommodation is objectionable, unwelcome, unacceptable, or undesirable because she is breastfeeding a child.