Employment-Law Cases Land In Supreme Court

Compiled ByMichael A. Verespej Add two more key employment-law cases to this year's U.S. Supreme Court docket. In Hoffman Plastics Compounds Inc. v the NLRB (National Labor Relations Board), the court will decide whether an illegal immigrant fired for supporting union activities at his company is entitled to back pay. In Swierkiewicz v Sorema NA -- a case dismissed by two lower courts -- the court will hear arguments on the issue of how much evidence an individual needs to present to claim job discrimination based on age or national origin. Swierkiewicz -- who is of Hungarian descent -- was fired by Sorema, the French-owned reinsurance company, in April 1997 -- the same month that he outlined his complaints to management and requested a severance package. Two years earlier he had been demoted by his boss, a French national, who then gave many of Swierkiewicz' duties to a French national.