Section 7

Citation: Section 7
Parent Document: Bostock v. Clayton County, 590 U.S. 644 (2020)
Jurisdiction: United States (federal)
Effective Date: 2020-06-15
Original Source: https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/4760997/bostock-v-clayton-county/ ↗

Full Text

1,142 chars

articles during the relevant time period supports this conclusion. A
study searched a vast database of documents from that time to determine
how the phrase “discriminate against . . . because of [some trait]” was
used. Phillips, The Overlooked Evidence in the Title VII Cases: The Lin-
guistic (and Therefore Textualist) Principle of Compositionality (manu-
script, at 3) (May 11, 2020) (brackets in original), https://ssrn.com/
abstract=3585940. The study found that the phrase was used to denote
discrimination against “someone . . . motivated by prejudice, or biased
ideas or attitudes . . . directed at people with that trait in particular.”
Id., at 7 (emphasis deleted). In other words, “discriminate against” was
“associated with negative treatment directed at members of a discrete
group.” Id., at 5. Thus, as used in 1964, “discrimination because of sex”
would have been understood to mean discrimination against a woman or
a man based on “unfair beliefs or attitudes” about members of that par-
ticular sex. Id., at 7.
                      Cite as: 590 U. S. ____ (2020)                      29 ALITO, J., dissenting

Other Sections in This Document (1015)

Full Text