This post could be a follow-up to my analysis of the Supreme Court’s decision in Ricci v. DeStefano. Its genesis is, rather, a recent article in the New York Times about a meeting attended primarily by female playwrights to hear the results of a year-long research project on gender bias in the playwriting business. Female authors have long had a tough time getting their work staged and were sure their predicament was caused by gender discrimination.

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In Ricci v. DeStefano. in a 5-4 decision, the U.S. Supreme Court has said Judge Sotomayor was wrong to conclude that white firefighters hadn’t been discriminated against because of their race when the City of New Haven, Connecticut denied them promotions. What timing!

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As noted in two previous posts, the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Ricci v. DeStefano would be important because of its potential to change the way discrimination cases are evaluated under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act and because Judge Sonia Sotomayor was one of three judges who issued the decision being reviewed by the Supreme Court. (Click here and here.) The Court’s decision is now in. The majority of the Court disagreed with Sotomayor, issuing one of the most significant opinions ever under Title VII.

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In a previous post, the case of Ricci v. DeStefano was reviewed. This is the so-called New Haven firefighters case in which Judge Sotomayor was one of three Second Circuit Court of Appeals judges to sign off on an opinion that ruled against white firefighters who had qualified for promotions but were denied them because the promotion tests had a disproportionate impact on African-American and Hispanic candidates. The U.S. Supreme Court has reversed that decision.

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There’s only one case involving reverse race discrimination, and it’s probably Judge Sonia Sotomayor’s most controversial decision while on the Second Circuit Court of Appeals. As noted in a previous post, she didn’t author this opinion but was one of three judges who issued a per curiam opinion (one on behalf of the judges participating, instead of written by a specific judge).

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All of us know coworkers and friends who’ve lost jobs. This recession has been remarkably egalitarian. An interesting piece in Slate Magazine takes a different sort of look at the recession’s impact on work and friendships.

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Given our economic crisis and fingers of blame pointing at CEOs and other executives for their failure to provide leadership, there’s a continuing reevaluation of what it means to be a leader. We all have our definitions, but I’ll bet we could agree on the top five qualities. Whether we agree or not, it’s worth a serious discussion.

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Since millions of people are thinking about jobs today, it’s an appropriate time to learn something from an oldie but goodie Sesame Street clip. Matching a person (or gorilla) with the right job can be problematic, particularly when either the prospective employee, the employer, or an employment agency allow stereotypes or preconceived notions to get in the way.

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That’s a moot question, of course. In addition to being the Vicar of Christ, Pope Benedict XVI is infallible. His public relations team isn’t, however, and it’s perhaps the Vatican’s PR director who should be shown the door. In any event, there are lessons to be learned from the Pope’s recent visit to the Middle East.

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After the flap over Miss California’s answer to a question about gay marriage in the Miss USA beauty pageant, I did a post on culture wars and protected classes. I predicted that if the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) passes to make sexual orientation (and maybe bisexuality and transgender status) a protected class, the culture wars and employment law would merge — or clash.

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We’re all familiar with the principal protected classes under federal employment law: race, color, sex or gender, pregnancy, national origin, religion, age and disability. Some state statutes and municipal ordinances add others: sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, family status, creed, and ancestry, just to name a few.

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I’ve done my share of blogging about gender discrimination. (There are too many posts to link to here, but you can click “Danger Zone: Discrimination” under “Categories” and read away.) Though women still lag when it comes to C-Suite opportunities and pay equity, they have made considerable advances in the American workplace.

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Can you lay off a pregnant employee or an employee on maternity leave without being guilty of pregnancy or sex discrimination? Of course. As long as you don’t use pregnancy as a factor in making the decision, you’ve done nothing unlawful. According to the New York Times, however, there’s growing suspicion that employers are using the economy as a cover for pregnancy discrimination.

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President Barack Obama sits in the ultimate C-Suite. I don’t agree with everything he’s done, but he’s giving it his all. He’s everywhere: meeting with world leaders, holding press conferences, appearing at town hall meetings, working the late night crowd, and using the Internet to communicate with the American people. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg.

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Lost in the whirlwind of bailouts and stimulus packages is immigration reform. Not that long ago, it was a hot issue. It’s hardly lukewarm these days. As the New York Times reports, however, we still have a lot of immigrants, some legal and some illegal. While all Americans are suffering from the recession, the immigrant community is moving toward dire straits.

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I’ve done more than a few posts on the general inadvisability of layoffs, despite our economic downturn. (Click here for a post that links to several other posts.) If anyone is reading them, they’re not paying attention, or I’ve failed to sufficiently make my case.

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Recently, Attorney General Eric Holder encouraged Americans to begin a meaningful discussion about the subject of race. He even said that we had historically been cowards for failing to discuss the topic openly and candidly. I did a post on Holder’s comments, linking to other posts I have done on the same subject.

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Slate Magazine has an interesting article about the long-standing question of whether employment tests used in the hiring process to screen out applicants are racially biased. It focuses on a recent study published in the Quarterly Journal of Economics on the subject.

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For additional and different views on the subject covered in my recent post titled “Race Cowards and the Risk of Race Talk,” check out Dan Schwartz and Cultural Offering.

Early in last year’s presidential campaign, I began suggesting that it presented the perfect opportunity for an honest discussion about race in this country, particularly in the workplace. During a speech on February 18, Eric Holder, our first African-American Attorney General, urged Department of Justice employees to begin a meaningful dialogue about race.

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