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On April 27, 2021, the National Women’s Law Center submitted a letterĀ to the Texas Supreme Court joining theĀ amicus brief filed by AARP, in support of Cathryn Davis. Davis, a 67-year-old woman, was fired for opposing age and gender discrimination that she and other older female employees experienced while working for a Fortune 500 oil and gas exploration company. Davis, a paralegal at the company with 25 years’ experience, reasonably believed that she and other older female employees were being treated less favorably than younger employees by, among other things, being denied promotions despite higher performance evaluations and greater experience. When Davis complained to her supervisors about age and gender discrimination, she was fired.
A jury agreed with Davis, finding that the company had retaliated against her for opposing and gender discrimination, and awarded her $150,000 in compensatory damages.Ā When the company appealed, on April 4, 2019, the Court of AppealsĀ heldĀ that “legally sufficient evidence supports the juryās findings that Davis engaged in a protected activity and that Apache retaliated against her for making a complaint.” The company is now again attempting to have the juryās verdict overturned at the Texas Supreme Court.Ā Oral argumentĀ was held before the Texas Supreme Court on March 23, 2021. Ms. Davis is represented by the Law Offices of Scott Newar.
NWLC’s amicus letter in support of Davis urges the Court to either deny the company’s appeal or, if they hear the appeal, affirm the jury’s verdict. NWLC highlights that discrimination claims based on more than one protected characteristicāhere, age and genderāare legally recognized and must be permitted in order to fully effectuate the nondiscrimination goals of our civil rights laws, as confirmed by the U.S. Supreme Court inĀ Bostock v. Clayton CountyĀ and its progeny like the Tenth Circuit decision inĀ Frappied v. Affinity Gaming Black Hawk, LLC.Ā We point to the outsizedĀ number of retaliation claimsĀ filed by employees to the EEOCĀ to emphasize that workers must beĀ protected from retaliationĀ in order to encourage them to report discrimination in the workplace. This is an especially important protection for older women, who face disproportionate rates of employment discriminationāa reality that hasĀ only worsenedĀ since the beginning of the Covid pandemic.