Supreme Court Cases Will Address Employment Discrimination and Whistleblower Protections

​The U.S. Supreme Court will begin its next term on Oct. 2 with several employment-related cases on the docket, including cases that deal with discriminatory employment decisions, whistleblower protections and federal agency power.

In the meantime, employers continue to reckon with the groundbreaking decisions the Supreme Court made in its last term, impacting religious accommodations and affirmative action.

The following summarizes three of the upcoming cases.

Mandatory Job Transfer

In Muldrow v. City of Louis, the court will decide whether a mandatory job transfer can be considered a discriminatory employment action under federal law.

The court will focus on whether Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits discrimination in all terms, conditions or privileges of employment, or whether the law’s reach is limited to employer decisions that cause materially significant disadvantages for employees, such as firing and demotion.

In June 2017, a sergeant with the St. Louis Police Department was transferred from the department’s intelligence division to a different role in the city’s Fifth District. She alleged gender discrimination and retaliation under federal and state law because the city didn’t approve her requests to transfer from the Fifth District.

The case could impact a multitude of employment decisions, including the assignment of clients and major projects, appointment to task groups or committees, and job responsibilities that don’t directly impact pay or…