employment discrimination

A union election at Volkswagen is testing the power of the United Auto Workers. As voting gets underway this week, guest host Nova Safo explains what unionization could mean for three big automakers and the labor movement in the South. Plus, how a unanimous Supreme Court ruling expands the scope of workplace bias suits. And, why Billy Joel came up at a Pentagon press briefing.

Here’s everything we talked about today:

• “The South has few unionized auto plants. Workers say this one could be next.” from The Washington Post
• “Supreme Court makes it easier to sue for job discrimination over forced transfers” from The Associated Press
• “Hugh Grant says he took ‘enormous sum’ to settle suit alleging illegal snooping by The Sun tabloid” from The Associated Press
• “Conservative Broadcaster OAN Settles Defamation Claims by Voting-Machine Company Smartmatic” from The Wall Street Journal
• Pentagon press conference moment from Travis Akers on X
• Billy Joel’s “We Didn’t Start the Fire” (Official HD Video) 

We love to hear from you. Send your questions and comments to makemesmart@marketplace.org or leave us a voicemail at 508-U-B-SMART.

The Supreme Court ruled on Monday that a landmark civil rights law protects gay and transgender workers from workplace discrimination. We examine the three words the case hung on; what the written opinions had to say about bathrooms, locker rooms, sports, pronouns and religious objections to same-sex marriage; and the implications for the ruling. Guest: Adam Liptak, who covers the Supreme Court for The Times and Aimee Stephens, the lead plaintiff in a transgender discrimination case heard by the Supreme Court. Ms. Stephens died in May; she was 59. For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily

Background reading:

• Ms. Stephens was fired after she announced that she would live as a woman. She did not live to see the Supreme Court rule in her favor.
• Until Monday’s decision, it was legal in more than half of the states to fire workers for being gay, bisexual or transgender.
• The justices are confronting an unusually potent mix of political and social issues in the middle of both a presidential election year and a public health crisis. Here’s an overview of the major cases this year to get you up to speed.

Covid-19 is the biggest job killer in a century. As the lockdown eases, what does re-employment look like? Who will be first and who last? Which sectors will surge and which will disappear? Welcome to the Great Labor Reallocation of 2020.