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: BoardBuzz: NSBA's Daily Weblog

Phew! Schools dodge lawsuit bullet

The Associated Press reports that the U.S. Supreme Court has issued a favorable ruling in a case in which NSBA had weighed in. In Engquist v. Oregon Department of Agriculture, the court rejected the idea that an individual public employee can sue his or her employer for violating the Equal Protection Clause for discrimination against a "class of one." The Equal Protection Clause protects "suspect classes" like race, gender, etc., but the courts more recently have recognized this "class of one" theory for certain plaintiff who say they were treated differently from other similar individuals—even if no "suspect class" was involved. The issue in this case was whether the "class of one" theory applies in lawsuits brought by public employmees. Most lower courts had said yes, but the high court ruled 6-3 otherwise. The details on the case, including NSBA's brief to court, are available courtesy of NSBA's Legal Clips, starting here with an excerpt from coverage of the oral arguments by Education Week's Mark Walsh. NSBA's brief, written pro bono by Elizabeth Eynon-Kokrda and Kenneth W. Hartman of Baird Holm, LLP, in Omaha, Nebraska, warned the court against turning routine employment disputes into constitutional crises. The court got it. Check out NSBA's appreciative press release.

Full post as published by BoardBuzz: NSBA's Daily Weblog on June 09, 2008 (boomark / email).