7th Circuit: Repeating a tired philosophy
A 2006 case out of the 7th Circuit (Illinois) dealt with a woman who was fired, essentially, because she filed an EEO claim for reasonable accommodation of her cancer (among other things). The Court stated, in its decision on the reprisal matter:
“Poor personnel management receives its come-uppance in the market rather than the courts.”
Statements like this are the mantra of the employment-defense bar. I can’t blame them, really - it really is easier (albeit cowardly) to ignore discrimination and the abuses of power and pretend that the “market” can regulate itself.
First of all, for the vast majority of workers that are employed by county, state and federal governments, there is no “market” to regulate the conduct of poor personnel management, particularly when that poor management rises to the level of discrimination.
Second of all, the only way that the market can “regulate” poor management is if labor is free to move to better companies and better jobs. In a world where most salaries are shrinking, where it is increasingly impossible for the average paycheck to cover an average family’s expenses, and where the labor market is actually shrinking, there really is no way to regulate poor management without the assistance of the Courts.
Historically, the Courts have served as a check on the powers of the Executive and the congress. Likewise, they often serve as a check on the “lack of power” of our Governors, our President and our Statehouses. When our elected officials fail to take action to protect us from the worst among us, and when our elected officials fail to promote the best economic interests of the whole population, the Judiciary must stand as a protector of the laborer.
