Assignment 5: Efficiency and the Constitution

Assignment 5: Efficiency and the Constitution

BRIEFING COURT DECISIONS

Case Brief 1

Cleveland Board of Education et al. v. LaFleur et al. 414 US 632.

The case involves the teachers of junior school who brought claim against unpaid leaves and cut offs during their maternity conditions and childcare of child of 3 months and below, against state laws which requires fixed cutoff and further establish requirement on teachers prior to their return. The teachers claim that fourteenth amendment provides right to individual freedom and liberty and requires that these rules should not impinge upon on freedom of personal choice of family. The rule of Cleveland Board of Education requires pregnant teacher to take leave prior to 5 months of her maternity and that entire period would be unpaid. Also, during this period, teachers may also risk losing their jobs with replacement of other teachers with little emphasis given to priority of re-employment which requires reassignment to qualified and talented teachers. Majority of female teachers are feeling job insecurity as they require giving care to their child up to 3 months after maternity, which is not given to teachers even in maternity complications. The teachers feel that they have no choice of freedom of having family as failure to this rule by Board would translates into dismal from the job. The teachers that are victimized from failure to comply this rule include Jo Carol LaFluer and Ann Elizabeth Nelson. These teachers were unwilling to take maternity leave prior to their child delivery and were forced by Board to take leave against their wishes for mandatory leave. The second rule which was imposed similar to the Cleveland Board of Education is maternity leave regulations imposed Chesterfield County Virginia School Board. The regulation requires the employed pregnant teachers to inform the board regarding their pregnancy conditions 6 months prior to leave. However, they are required to work 2 months after notice which means they have to leave for home prior to 4 months prior to child delivery. The re-employment of teacher after child delivery is conditioned on submission of teacher's physical fitness from physician. The teachers also require ensuring that she would have minimal interventions in her job due to her child care as primary condition for re-employment. The teacher named Susan Cohen seek the aid of court that she should give permission to join school beyond the period of six months, which was earlier denied by board officials.

Did the rules imposed by school boards on pregnant teachers justify the particular regulations used for teachers for their maternity and do the means adopted by school boards infringe the constitutional rights of liberty of teachers?

Yes (vote 7-2) (Opinion by Justice Justice Potter Stewart).

The court give reasoning for their decision by supporting that maternity leaves in individual right of every women in a country. They court ruled that school boards imposed mandatory maternity leave rules are unjustifiable and lacks evidence on constitutional basis on the ground of Due process clause mentioned in 5th ...