Agencies to Explore How Title VII of Civil Rights Act of 1964 Remade America

MEMPHIS, Tenn. - On Friday, June 13, the Birmingham and Memphis District Offices of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) will join several other government and educational entities in a continuing legal education seminar (CLE) entitled Remaking America: 50 Years of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Title VII is the portion of the Civil Rights Act that prohibits discrimination in employment on the basis of race, color, national origin, religion and sex.

The other participating offices are the Office of the United States Attorney for the Western District of Tennessee, the Ben F. Jones Chapter of the National Bar Association, and the University of Memphis, Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law.

The CLE will examine the past, present and future of Title VII from the perspective of lawyers and federal judges. EEOC General Counsel David Lopez will participate on two panels involving the evolution of Title VII and current issues in litigating Title VII cases. The featured luncheon speaker will be Paulette Brown, an attorney with Edwards Wildman in Morristown, N.J., and president-elect of the American Bar Association (ABA). In February 2014, Brown was nominated as the ABA's president-elect for 2014-15. If elected by the ABA's House of Delegates in August 2014, Brown will become the first woman of color to serve as ABA president.

Mayor A. C. Wharton will open the CLE program, followed by Commissioner and attorney Walter Bailey and attorney W.J. Michael Cody, who will present a historical context of the City of Memphis prior to the enactment of Title VII. Other participants on the panel include federal judges who hear Title VII cases in the Eastern District of Arkansas, the Western and Middle District of Tennessee, and lawyers who litigate the Title VII cases. EEOC Birmingham District Director Delner Franklin-Thomas and Memphis District Director Katharine Kores will highlight some of the important cases involving Title VII.

"We are excited about the program because it will demonstrate that while Title VII remade America, we still have great strides to make in achieving justice and equality in the workplace for all groups." said Faye A. Williams, the EEOC's regional attorney in Memphis, and one of the organizers of the CLE.

The CLE offers four-and-one-half hours of credit for lawyers. For registration information, or to register, please go to Eventbrite.

The EEOC enforces federal laws prohibiting employment discrimination. Further information about the EEOC is available on its web site at www.eeoc.gov.