Fatima Goss Graves, Vice President for Education and Employment

by Fatima Goss Graves, Senior Counsel
National Women’s Law Center

Every January our nation pauses to remember and celebrate the life of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Some communities hold marches, rallies or vigils. Here in D.C. there are countless concerts and one theater is even showing a film to commemorate Dr. King’s legacy. 

Another important way to honor Dr. King’s legacy is by further promoting civil rights. You may know that Congress has long outlawed discrimination based on sex, race, national origin, disability, and age in employment and by recipients of federal funds. These statutes have opened opportunities in every facet of our lives and have ensured that federal funds do not subsidize discrimination. But a series of Supreme Court decisions has steadily weakened these basic civil rights protections. For example, Title IX, which prohibits sex discrimination, including sexual harassment, in education, may be enforced by individuals, including in law suits for damages. But the Supreme Court held in the late 90s that individuals cannot fully hold schools accountable if a teacher or classmate harasses a child unless the school had actual notice of the abuse and did virtually nothing to correct the problem. What does that mean in practical terms? In the Court’s upside-down decision, students have fewer legal protections from harassments than adults. It also means that schools have incentives to turn a blind eye to clear signs of harassment. Bad news for civil rights plaintiffs.