Denise Taylor-Travis v. Jackson State University
Arbitration SocialSecurity DueProcess EmploymentDiscrimina Privacy JusticiabilityDoctri Jurisdiction
Whether the jury instruction on the causation standard for a Title IX retaliation claim was erroneous
QUESTION(S) PRESENTED 1.The jury was told that for petitioner to prove her claim of retaliation, she must show she was terminated “solely as a consequence” of her protected activity under Title IX. Did this instruction which impermissibly supercedes the Court’s “because of” causation standard for this claim mislead the jury and deny petitioner a fair trial? 2. In deciding that the release of petitioner’s confidential personnel records in contravention of Mississippi’s Public Records Act did not violate her right of privacy, the court of appeals relied exclusively on the Restatement (Second) of Torts. Does this refusal to apply the Public Records Act, substantive state law providing a zone of privacy beyond the Restatement, deprive petitioner of the privacy rights to which she would otherwise be entitled in State court, subverting federalism and denying petitioner due process?