Former Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg was widely considered to be one of the most employee-friendly justices in the Supreme Court’s modern era. Through her lengthy tenure on the court, Justice Ginsburg authored several opinions ruling in favor of employees and unions and has largely broadened the rights of employees. With the recent appointment of Justice Amy Coney Barrett to fill the seat of Justice Ginsburg, one should expect a significant impact on the rights of employees and the future of employment law. This article will examine the effect of Justice Barrett’s appointment on employer rights, specifically focusing on religious freedoms in the workplace as well as employee discrimination claims. Justice Barrett’s appointment will ultimately create a dynamic in the Court that will more than likely broaden the rights of employers.

Before we delve into Justice Barrett’s effect on employment law, it is worth taking a moment to fully develop her judicial philosophy. Justice Barrett largely takes after former Justice Antonin Scalia in that she hails from a politically conservative background and espouses the interpretative methodologies of textualism and originalism. Textualism is a form of statutory interpretation that tends to focus on the language of the law at the time the law was written as well as what the people understood the words of the law to mean at the time the law was enacted. Originalism, on the hand, focuses more on the intent of the founders in drafting the language of the Constitution. Justices Roberts, Gorsuch, Alito, Thomas, and Kavanaugh all seem to ascribe to either textualism or originalism or both, making it more than likely the case that Justice Barrett will side on decisions with this bloc of the court. Historically, this bloc of the court tends to side with employers over workers and emphasizes employers’ rights and religious freedoms in its decision-making process. 

Continue Reading A Steeper Hill: The Effects of Justice Amy Coney Barrett’s Appointment on Employer Rights