Davis v. Passman
United States Supreme Court
442 U.S. 228, 99 S. Ct. 2264, 60 L. Ed. 2d 846 (1979)
- Written by Salina Kennedy, JD
Facts
Otto E. Passman (defendant), a United States congressman, hired Shirley Davis (plaintiff) as his deputy administrative assistant. He then fired Davis because she was a woman, and he believed a man should serve in the role. Davis sued Passman in district court, requesting backpay and alleging that he had discriminated against her because of her gender in violation of her Fifth Amendment rights. The United States Supreme Court had ruled that the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution protected an individual’s right to be free from gender discrimination. The district court dismissed Davis’s complaint, and a panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit reversed, holding that Davis had a direct cause of action pursuant to the Fifth Amendment. However, the Fifth Circuit then reheard the case en banc and reversed the panel’s decision. The court applied a test for determining whether a private cause of action could be implied from a statute that did not expressly provide one and held that Davis had no cause of action pursuant to the Fifth Amendment. The United States Supreme Court granted certiorari.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Brennan, J.)
Dissent (Burger, C.J.)
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