Memorial Day

Memorial Day is the US holiday when we remember our fallen service members.  It is different than Veterans Day when we honor all persons who have served in the armed forces.

History of Memorial Day

Memorial Day - Should we mourn or celebrate?

Honor the Fallen

Twitter and the First Amendment

Here's a case from January 2021 in the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit.  Here's a map of the circuits.

 

This case is called Campbell v Reisch and is an appeal of a case from the Western District of Missouri.

Mike Campbell is a citizen of Missouri in the 44th district.  Cheri Toalson Reisch campaigned to represent the 44th district, and was eventually elected.  While she campaigned, she established a Twitter account, and tweeted campaign-related messages, including where she stood on issues and requesting campaign donations.

After Reisch was elected, she continued to use the Twitter account, informing her followers of events in which she participated, how she was working toward meeting her campaign promises, photos of herself with other political persons, and other types of messages.  She invited responses by her constituents.  When Mike Campbell responded with criticism, she blocked him.  He sued, alleging that blocking him was a violation of his First Amendment rights, denying him the right to speak.

This case is interesting in that it includes discussion of the same issue with Trump's Twitter account.  In this case, the court found that this was a personal account of Reisch, rather than a public/government account.  Trump's Twitter account was a public account.  This case discusses how to determine the difference in the types of accounts.  The First Amendment does not apply to personal accounts, only "government action" which requires that the accounts be maintained in the person's official capacity as a government/elected official.

Do you agree with the court's conclusion that Reisch's Twitter account was personal rather than governmental?  Why or why not?

Title VII Discrimination

Here's a case from January 2021 in the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.  Here's a map of the circuits.

This case is called Lemon v Myers Bigel and is an appeal of a case from the Eastern District of North Carolina.

Shawna Lemon practiced patent law with Myers Bigel, first as an associate and later as an equity partner and equal owner of the firm.  About ten years after she made partner, she applied for a short-term leave, citing an unspecified medical condition.  This leave was denied, even though similar requests for leave were routinely granted to white partners.  She resigned and filed suit, alleging racial and gender discrimination.

The court ruled in favor of Myers Bigel, on the grounds that Title VII prohibits employers from discriminating against employees, and Lemon was an owner and not an employee.  Additionally, because Lemon never disclosed any clarifying details or the exact medical condition for which she requested leave, the court could not determine whether the denial was based on her race or on another factor which was legally permissible.

Do you agree with the court's conclusion?  Why or why not?


 

Equal Pay

Here's a case from January 2021 in the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.  Here's a map of the circuits.

This case is called Lindsley v TRT Holdings and is an appeal of a case from the Northern District of Texas.

Sarah Lindsley worked for Omni Hotels for 16 years, starting as a server and working her way up to Food and Beverage Director.  She sued Omni on several claims, including that she was paid less than the previous three male persons in that same position.  The company did not dispute that salary difference.  The trial court ruled against her on all of her claims.

On appeal, the appellate court agreed with the trial court on her other claims, but did rule that all she needed for her case to proceed on her claim of discrimination based on her sex was the bare fact of the difference in pay.  The company then has the burden to provide evidence that the difference in pay was due to something other than her sex.

Do you agree with the court's conclusion?  Why or why not?

A-to-Z Challenge Reflections

Wow!  Another April has come and gone.  Revisiting 2020 is complete, and we are now free to flush it down the toilet.  Goodbye and good riddance.  Here's hoping for a better 2021!  It's already May.  Time does fly..................

As usual, I didn't get to visit as many participating blogs as I wanted to, but the ones I visited were fun.  So many different and interesting themes!

I'm looking forward to April 2022.  As usual, I will make a resolution to visit more blogs during the Challenge.  Hopefully I can meet that goal.

Thanks for playing along with me.