Course Syllabus

Jump to Today

Contact Information

This table includes information about how to contact your instructor and other important details about your class

Amanda Warren Marshall

Office Hours: by appointment, whenever is most convenient for you 

Phone: 405-325-5749

Email: awarmar@ou.edu 

Live Session: Tuesdays 7:00-8:00 pm (Central)

Zoom link:   https://oklahoma.zoom.us/j/91427413446?pwd=ZzBpcTU5VnpnRlJLR2wxTG1kZ2RHUT09

Meeting ID: 914 2741 3446

Password:     04456433

Amanda Warren Marshall, J.D.

Adjunct Instructor

Human Relations

Course Details

For a list of course activities, scroll to the bottom of this page.

Course Prerequisites 

Graduate standing and admission in OU Online HR degree program. 

Course Description 

Leaders should be highly competent in concepts relevant to discrimination and harassment law. In this course, students will explore federal constitutional and federal statutory legal protections related to discrimination, which supersede state and local protections. 14th Amendment equal protection as it is applied to laws via strict scrutiny for suspect classifications, namely, race; intermediate scrutiny with quasi-suspect classifications, namely, sex and gender; and rational basis review for other non-suspect or quasi-suspect classifications and related due process will be examined. The historical evolution of state action and judicial review will also be discussed. Statutory protections from discrimination based on race, color, national origin, sexual orientation, gender, ability, age, immigration, genetic material, and harassment focusing on discrimination in an employment context and the role of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) as an enforcement entity will be examined. Statutes analyzed will include Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act as amended in 1991, Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 (IRCA), The Equal Pay Act of 1963, 29 C.F.R. Parts 1604 - 1606, The Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) of 1967,  Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA), and Title II of the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008 (GINA). 

Course Objectives

At the end of the course, students will be able to:

  • Explain the creation, history, and judicial evolution of 14th amendment equal protection.
  • Understand and apply:
    • Strict scrutiny to suspect classifications, specifically race
    • Intermediate scrutiny to quasi-suspect classifications specifically sex and gender
    • Rational basis review to other non-suspect or quasi-suspect classifications
  • Explain the basics of administrative law relevant to the mission of federal agencies, especially the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).  
  • Analyze and apply federal acts and statutes related to employment discrimination, including:
    • Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, as amended in 1991
    • Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 (IRCA)
    • The Equal Pay Act of 1963, 29 C.F.R. Parts 1604 - 1606
    • The Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) of 1967
    • The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA)
    • Title II of the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008 (GINA). 
  • Prepare and support amicus curie court briefs and respond to calls for comments in administrative rulemaking

 

Course Materials

All materials are free and will be posted within each Canvas module. 

  1. Robson, Ruthann. (2019). Liberty, Equality, and Due Process: Cases, Controversies, and Contexts in Constitutional Law (2nd ed). CALI eLangdell Press.
  2. Green, Matthew G. (2017). Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Employment Discrimination. CALI eLangdell Press.
  3.  Additional materials are available on Canvas within each module.
  4. In addition to a computer with access to a microphone and camera, you will need your OU Zoom video conferencing account to attend weekly “Live Sessions."
  5. You will need to have reliable internet to access course documents and submit your work. 

Topics Covered

  • Part I —Course Introduction
    • Topic 1: Introduction to Legal Studies
  • Part II —Constitutional Equal Protection
    • Topic 2:  Racial Classifications
    • Topic 3:  Nonracial Classifications
  • Part III — Statutory/Administrative Protections
    • Topic 4: Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
    • Topic 5: Discrimination Based on Race, Color, and National Origin
    • Topic 6: Discrimination Based on Sex, Sexual Orientation, and Gender
    • Topic 7: Discrimination Based on Ability and Age
    • Topic 8: Discrimination Based on Genetic Material, Religion, and Other Categories 

 

Grades

Breakdown

Course activities and grades listed for each activit:
Activity Description Points
Case Briefs  Throughout the course, students will select three assigned cases of their choice on which to submit a written case brief. (1 page each) 60 points (20 points each)
Amicus Curiae Brief 

Students will draft a persuasive research paper advocating for their chosen side of an appellate case or fact pattern of their choice in the form of an amicus curiae brief. (10 pages)

 200 points 
Rulemaking Comment Students will draft a comment for one to three proposed administrative rule(s) of their choosing.  (10 pages) 200 points
Canvas Discussion Posts Each week, students will be responsible for starting a discussion thread about an aspect of that week's topic and making a substantive contribution to several other students' threads.   80 points (10 points per week)
Hypothes.is Annotations  Each week, students will be responsible for making at least four substantive annotations on the reading(s) that have hypothes.is enabled.  80 points (10 points per week)
Weekly Zoom Meetings  Each week, students will be expected to attend and actively participate in the course Zoom meeting.  80 points (10 points per week)
Total  700 points

Scale

Letter Grades earned based on total points and percentages.
Total Points Earned Percentage Letter Grade
630–700 90–100% A
560–629 80–89%  B
490–559 70–79% C
420–489 60–69% D
Fewer than 420 Below 60% F

 

Course Components

Case Briefs 

Throughout the course, students will select three assigned cases of their choice and submit a one-page written case brief of each. This will help you master reading and understanding of case law as well as aid in discussion during live sessions. Ideally, you will submit your case briefs before the live session where the topic covered in that case is being discussed. Required elements include the case citation, issue, facts, and holding. Several templates will be provided on Canvas. 

Amicus Curiae Brief

For this assignment, you will draft a 10-page persuasive research paper advocating for their chosen side of a case or fact pattern of your choice in the form of an amicus curiae brief. Amicus curiae means "friend of the court," and these briefs are a way non-parties to a case can participate when they believe they have information that would be beneficial to the court and potentially otherwise unknown to it. Knowledge of how to draft and file amicus briefs is an important skill for leaders who desire to affect change in the legal environment. To get some background on this procedure, please read:

While you likely won't need all of this information for this assignment, knowing more about the amicus process will be beneficial for you if you ever need to file one in your professional life. 

The goal of this assignment is to show your understanding of the legal process, concepts, and cases we have studied in this course by synthesizing that with your previous knowledge, other course work, research interests, etc. Additionally, you will gain a skill you can use in your professional career to advocate for change and to protect the rights of those you lead. 

Directions

  1. Select a case you'd like to use and decide which side you'd like to use your brief to support. In general, amicus curiae briefs are normally used in appellate cases. However, due to the nature of litigation, it may be hard to find a current, appellate case that implicates the aspect of equal protection and/or discrimination that you would like to address. So, for this assignment, it is fine for you to be creative in the "case" you select. You can use a case that has already been heard and/or not yet appealed (just don't repeat the court's opinion in your paper--use different arguments, resources, etc.), a fact pattern (say from a news article) that no one has filed suit on, a historic case that was decided in a way that is no longer in line with current jurisprudence, etc. See the resources section for ideas on where to find cases. 
    • Note: You do not need to actually agree with the side you pick. Sometimes, it is easier to draft for the side you disagree with. While you'd never actually file such a brief, for our academic purposes, you might find it preferable. 
  2. You do not need to worry about legal formatting or citation style for your brief (however, if you are up to the challenge or just love footnotes, go for it!). I will include a fillable cover sheet with the template I provide; however, it's up to you if you choose to use that or just list the information in another way. For this assignment, use APA formatting and citation style as you've learned in Research and Writing and used in your other courses. This means that your ten pages should be written with a standard 12 point font of your choice and 1-inch margins. I'll set this up for you on your template. Your cover page and references will not count toward the 10 pages. 
  3. Here are the required parts of your paper: 
    1. Cover Page (1 page, doesn't count) 
      • You can make a pseudo-legal cover page or use more of a standard APA cover page. Just make sure to include the court your case is before, the parties of your case, who you represent, and which party your brief is supporting. Make up the parts you don't have--this is your chance to be creative and have a little fun. You might represent the Southern Poverty Law Center or the ACLU, for example. If your case isn't in an actual court, you can use the U.S. Supreme Court or the Circuit Court from where the fact pattern is from. If you need help creating any of these aspects, let me know and I'll be happy to help. 
    2. Question Presented (1 page)
      • In this section, you'll provide the basic facts of the case and what was decided by the lower court (if applicable). Then list the specific questions or issues of the case that this court needs to rule on and your arguments relate to.  
    3. Interest of Amicus Curiae (1 page or less) 
      • This is another section where you may need to get creative in keeping with whom you are writing the brief on behalf of unless you were able to select an organization or company that you are actually a part of. Explain why the issue(s) being decided in this case is(are) important to you or your hypothetical client. 
    4. Summary of Argument (1-2 pages) 
      • Think of this as the abstract of the paper--summarize the argument and reasoning you used in the main body of your paper.  
    5. Argument (5-6 pages)
      • This is the main section of your paper. Take each question/issue you want the court to rule on and support your argument. You'll need to support your argument with case law as well as other pertinent resources. Likely, you'll need at least 10 sources and potentially many more. You'll note that the samples all used many more case authorities and resources. 
    6. Conclusion (less than a page)
      • You do not need to say anything in this section other than state how you want the court to rule. Then, sign the brief with the persona you've taken on for this assignment.  
    7.  References (as many pages as needed, does not count)
      • Since we are doing this Brief APA style, end with a normal reference page. This will replace the table of Authorities in a normal amicus brief. 

Rulemaking Comment

For this assignment, you will draft a ten-page paper as a response to two to three calls for comment by one or more federal agencies engaged in the administrative rulemaking process. Congress creates laws by the passage of laws and statutes. Those laws state a directive or desired result but do not provide the specific details of how those goals should be accomplished. Instead, those same laws create and empower federal agencies to draft the specific rules and policies needed to enforce the law in what is known as the rulemaking process.

To fully understand the rulemaking process, please read:

The goal of this assignment is to show your understanding of administrative law and the rulemaking processes. Though this is not the longest assignment you'll complete for this course, it is perhaps the most important as submitting comments in the rulemaking process is something you will likely want to do at some point as it is a practical opportunity to use your professional knowledge and experiences to affect and advocate for social change. 

Directions

  1. Find one to three proposed rules on regulations.gov that you would like to draft your comment on. For this assignment, it is fine if the comment period on a rule you select is closed since there may not be an open comment on a rule you are interested in.  The number of rules you need to select to accomplish ten pages will vary based on the number of issues you want to comment on for each rule as well as how many arguments you will need to make. 
  2. Follow APA citation guidelines and formatting as you've learned in Research and Writing. This means that your paper should be written with a standard 12 point font of your choice and 1-inch margins. You don't need a cover page for this assignment (feel free to create one if you wish, however) but you will need a reference page (neither are counted in your then page count). 
  3. Here are the required parts of your comment. These will differ slightly from what you'd actually submit on regualtions.gov as I won't know what rule(s) you are commenting on as they would. 
    1. State the Proposed Rule you commenting on and link to the call for comment on Reulations.gov 
    2. State the issue(s) within the proposed rule you are going to comment on. Be as specific as you need to be. 
    3. Give your comments. You can agree or disagree — or some of both — with the proposed rule you are commenting on. Make sure you give specific reasons/arguments as to why you are making the comments you are. Provide alternatives, if applicable. Support your arguments with other rules/statutes, case law, academic research, etc. Likely you'll need at least five sources for each rule you comment on. 
    4. Repeat steps I-III as needed for each rule you are going to comment on.  
    5. End with a References page. 

Canvas Discussion Posts 

Each week you are responsible for starting a discussion thread about an aspect of that week’s topic. Sample threads will be provided to get you started. However you should feel free to come up with your own—in fact, that is preferred so that we have a variety of conversations going. After posting at least one initial post, please read and engage on your classmates' posts in a way that contributes substantively to the overall conversation. A grading rubric outlining expectations will be provided.

Hypothes.is Annotations 

Each week the main assigned reading(s) will have Hypothes.is enabled; generally these will be the week's case law and/or statutes. You will be responsible for making at least four substantive annotations as you read. Your four annotations can be initial or responses to annotations made by others. Substantive annotations further our academic study by stating unique ideas, asking probing and challenging questions about the reading, incorporating ideas/concepts/resources from previous study, etc. 

Weekly Zoom Meetings 

Each week you are expected to attend and actively participate in the course live Zoom meeting. There are two ways in which you can earn points for the Live Session. Remember, these Live Sessions will count toward your final grade.

  1. Participate Live: This option should be your preferred choice. When possible, you should attend and participate in the Live Sessions in real-time. You do not need to submit anything to this assignment to get credit for your attendance. Within 24 hours of each live session, I will enter points based on the participant list from the Zoom session. 
  2. Make-Up (Watch Recording-Submit Written Summary): If your work or personal schedule makes it impossible for you to attend, please review the recording of the Live Session then write a paragraph summarizing the Live Session from your perspective and/or your own insights on what was discussed. Click on the "Submit Assignment" button to type (or copy/paste) your paragraph into the text field. Don't worry if the system indicates your submission is late. You will have until the next Live Session to submit your paragraph summary.

Course Policies

Communication

Students may contact me via Canvas inbox or email (both go to the same place). Monday through Friday, all messages/emails will be returned within 24 hours. Saturday and Sunday all messages/emails will be returned within 48 hours (generally less).

Late Policy

Generally speaking, late work will not be accepted for weekly assignments/activities (discussions and live sessions). In a graduate-level, accelerated course like this one, it is vital that to stay caught up to not get behind. It is also hard to be an active participant if you are not participating at the same time as your peers. That said, things do come up and life happens. If you need accommodations for any weekly assignments/activities, please contact me as soon as possible so that arrangements can be made. I am happy to be flexible for legitimate needs but I have to know about them to be able to help. To give you as much flexibility as possible, you will have until the end of the term to complete all written assignments (Case Briefs, Amicus paper, and Rulemaking Comment). I will suggest due date goals to help keep you on track but if these don't fit your schedule, adjust them as needed up until the end of the course. 

Grade/Feedback Turnaround Time 

I know that timely grading and feedback are important to your success. I will grade and give feedback as expeditiously as possible. Generally speaking, you can expect grades/feedback on this time table: 

Turnaround Time for Assignment Feedback
Activity Time
Case Briefs 

1–2 days of submission
Amicus Curiae Brief 

5–7 days of submission
Rulemaking Comment 5–7 days of submission 
Canvas Discussion Posts

2–3 days of end date
Hypothes.is Annotations

2–3 days of end date
Weekly Zoom Meetings  1–2 days of meeting

University Academic Policies and Student Support

Course Catalog 

Search the OU Course Catalog.

Student Handbook

Please familiarize yourself with the OU Student Handbook.

Online Library

Access digital materials and other resources at OU Libraries.

Academic Misconduct

In addition to the course conduct policies outlined by your professor in the Course Syllabus in the online classroom, please review the Graduate Student Handbook. 

It is the responsibility of each student to be familiar with the definitions, policies, and procedures concerning academic misconduct. The Student Code is available from the Office of the Vice President for Student Affairs, and is contained in the  Student's Guide to Academic Integrity.

This site also defines misconduct, provides examples of prohibited conduct, and explains the sanctions available for those found guilty of misconduct.

Plagiarism 

Plagiarism is the most common form of academic misconduct at OU. There is basically no college-level assignment that can be satisfactorily completed by copying. OU's basic assumption about writing is that all written assignments show the student's own understanding in the student's own words. That means all writing assignments, in class or out, are assumed to be composed entirely of words generated (not simply found) by the student, except where words written by someone else are specifically marked as such with proper citation. Including other people's words in your paper is helpful when you do it honestly and correctly. When you don't, it's plagiarism. 

For more information about plagiarism, watch this video and then take this short course offered by University Libraries.

Reasonable Accommodation for Disabilities

The University of Oklahoma is committed to providing reasonable accommodation for all students with disabilities. Students with disabilities who require accommodations in this course should contact their professor as early in the semester as possible.

Students with disabilities must be registered with the Disability Resource Center before receiving accommodations in this course.

If you have a disability and you would like to request reasonable accommodation, please see the Graduate Student Handbook or get in touch with the Accessibility and Disability Resource Center.

Adjustments for Pregnancy/Childbirth Related Issues

Should you need modifications or adjustments to your course requirements because of documented pregnancy-related or childbirth-related issues, please contact me as soon as possible to discuss your options. Generally, modifications will be made where medically necessary and similar in scope to accommodations based on temporary disability.  Learn more about the rights of pregnant and parenting students by consulting the FAQ sheets provided by the Institutional Equity Office.

Title IX Resources  

For any concerns regarding gender-based discrimination, sexual harassment, sexual misconduct, stalking, or intimate partner violence, the University offers a variety of resources, including advocates on-call 24/7, counseling services, mutual no-contact orders, scheduling adjustments, and disciplinary sanctions against the perpetrator. Please contact the Sexual Misconduct Office at 405-325-2215 (8-5, M-F) or OU Advocates at 405-615-0013 (24/7) to learn more or to report an incident. 

Religious Holidays

It is the policy of the University to excuse absences of students that result from religious observances and to provide for the rescheduling of examinations and additional required classwork that may fall on religious holidays without penalty. It is the responsibility of the student to make alternate arrangements with the instructor at least one week before the actual date of the religious holiday.

Copyright Policy

It is illegal to download, upload, reproduce, or distribute any copyrighted material, in any form and in any fashion, without permission from the copyright holder or his/her authorized agent. The University of Oklahoma expects all members of its community to comply fully with federal copyright laws. If such laws appear to have been violated by any user, the university reserves the right (1) to terminate that user’s access to some or all of the university’s computer systems and information resources, and (2) to take additional disciplinary actions as deemed necessary or appropriate. Repeat offenders will be sanctioned and their privileges terminated.

Registration and Withdrawal

If you choose to withdraw from this course, you must complete the appropriate University form and turn the form in before the deadline. If you stop attending the course and doing the coursework without doing the required paperwork, your grade will be calculated with missed homework and examination grades entered as zero. This could result in receiving a grade of F in the course. Deadlines are shown in the Academic Calendar, which is available from the Office of the Registrar.

Student Grievances

In addition to any policies outlined related to submitting an informal or formal grievance by your professor in the Course Syllabus in the online classroom, please review the Graduate Student Handbook for more information about the process of submitting a formal grievance.

Course Summary:

Course Summary
Date Details Due