Might Federal Anti-Discrimination Law Protect Van Gundy?
Federal law in some instances provides whistleblower protection. For example, earlier this year, the Supreme Court ruled in Jackson v. Birmingham Bd. of Educ. that Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 protected the male coach of a girls’ high school basketball team against retaliation for his having reported sex discrimination in favor of the boys’ team. On its face, the Jackson ruling does not apply to Van Gundy, but perhaps it can be extended to help him. The ruling was not based on the specific text of Title IX, but rather on the general principle that to protect girls and women against sex discrimination, the law should protect those who report sex discrimination–whether or not the whistleblowers happen also to be victims or to be female. Were his case before a court, Van Gundy could argue that the same logic applies to Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, which prohibits, among other things, employment discrimination on the basis of race and national origin. At various
