SCHWARTZ & PERRY SERVE AS JUDGES IN A MOOT COURT COMPETITION DEALING WITH TRANSGENDER DISCRIMINATION
On Thursday, March 6, 2008, the attorneys of Schwartz & Perry were honored to serve, once again, as judges in the New York Law School Moot Court Association’s Wagner Moot Court Competition. The competition featured law students from all over the country arguing an issue dealing with employment law.
The issue, this year, involved two issues in employment law: (1) whether the federal law of Title VII protects persons who identify themselves as “transgender” and (2) whether a company should be liable for employment decisions that are made by persons without a discriminatory bias, but who are influenced by persons who hold, but do not reveal, a discriminatory bias, also known as the “cat’s paw” theory of liability. Both of these issues are hotly contested in the federal courts throughout the country, and resulted in a fascinating oral argument.
Needless to say, given our own experience in this field, the attorneys of Schwartz & Perry present a formidable panel for these law students. We were happily impressed with the performance of all the students who participated, as they were concise, thorough and extremely well prepared for the competition. As Mr. Schwartz noted to the students, “It is always a pleasure to see how much we practicing attorneys can learn from law students.”
We look forward to seeing these young students grow as the field of employment law continues to evolve.
