Breaking News: United States Supreme Court Issues Pair of Title VII Cases

The Supreme Court of the United States is nearing the end of its October, 2012, term, and the opinions are coming at a very high pace. The Court this morning announced decisions in two cases that we've been watching:

Vance v. Ball State University, in which the Court limited Title VII discrimination claims by holding that an employee is a “supervisor” for purposes of vicarious liability under Title VII only if he or she is empowered by the employer to take "tangible employment actions" against the victim.

University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center v. Nassar, in which the Court limited Title VII retaliation claims by requiring plaintiffs to show but-for causation, rather than motivating factor causation.

In addition, the Court granted review in NLRB v. Noel Canning, which considers the President's use of "recess appointments" to fill vacancies on the National Labor Relations Board. 

I will have more on these decisions later this week.