Case Study On Jackson V Birmingham Board Of Education

Jackson v. Birmingham Board of Education 2005

Kirsten Dooley

Liberty High School

AP Government 2A

Jackson v. Birmingham Board of Education was a U.S. Supreme Court case surrounding sex discrimination and people who face retaliation for trying to uphold Title IX of the Education Amendments. Roderick Jackson was a high school girls’ basketball coach at Ensley High school that was fired after complaining that his team was denied equal treatment as far as funding and access to equipment. Jackson sued for retaliation, and the case would be heard in the Supreme Court in 2005. This case was important in deciding that those who are retaliated against for arguing sex discrimination, even though they may not have faced it themselves,

Title IX clearly states that, “No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance.” (Title IX, 1972). The constitutional question regarding the case lies in the fourteenth amendment, “Does Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 allow suits for retaliation for complaints about unlawful sex discrimination(ITT Chicago-Kent College of Law.)?” The District Court dismissed Jackson’s case because they said Title IX does not expressly include retaliation, and the Eleventh Circuit agreed(Jackson v. Birmingham Board of Ed., 2005). This case would make its way to the U.S. Supreme Court in 2005, and Jackson would be allowed to bring evidence against the Birmingham Board of Education to sue the board for retaliation for saying that his high school’s athletics department gave unequal treatment to the girls’ team based on

One of these precedents, Sullivan v. Little Hunting Park, Inc., was a case that stated a cause of action was present for retaliation for trying to stop discrimination against African Americans. Since suing for retaliation for standing up for a race is protected under the 14th amendment, why would it not be the same for gender? Other precedents used for Jackson v. Birmingham Board of Ed. include Cannon v. University of Chicago, Franklin v. Gwinnett County Public Schools, and Davis v. Monroe County Board of Ed. Cannon v. University of Chicago ruled that Title IX prohibits unlawful sex discrimination, Franklin v. Gwinnett County Public Schools ruled that suits for money loss resulting from discrimination are a right under Title IX, and Davis v. Monroe County Board of Education ruled that indifference about harassment by another student was intentional discrimination(Jackson v. Birmingham Board of Ed.). Each of these cases relied on the broad terms from Title IX, where any intentional act is discrimination, and retaliation would be considered an intentional act. Therefore, Roderick Jackson had every right to sue under the Education Amendments of