Document Type
Article
Publication Date
Spring 2024
ISSN
0040-3288
Publisher
University of Tennessee College of Law
Language
en-US
Abstract
Judge Merritt's judicial career coincided with several major cultural and legal workplace shifts that continue to affect millions of Americans to this day. The evolution of legal protections against numerous forms of workplace sexual harassment surely revolutionized our understanding of the centrality of work, particularly the right of women to be free from unwelcome conduct on the job. The legal literature dealing with workplace sexual harassment is vast 172 and cannot be recounted here in detail. Instead, this essay describes Judge Merritt's fidelity to both the letter and spirit of this important body of Title VII173 jurisprudence. It traces the evolution of his contributions to the development of the Sixth Circuit's caselaw and shows how the cases he decided promote and protect the rights of female (and male) employees to function in the workplace free of substantial and unwelcome sexual rhetoric and conduct.
Recommended Citation
Maria O'Brien,
VII. Judge Merritt and Sexual (Mis)Conduct in the Workplace
,
in
91
Tennessee Law Review
587
(2024).
Available at:
https://scholarship.law.bu.edu/faculty_scholarship/3978
Comments
Part of a "A Theory and Practice of Justice: A Selective Review of the Jurisprudence, Outlook, and Significant Cases of Judge Gilbert S. Merritt" by A Committee of Judge Merritt's Law Clerks