Supreme Court makes it harder to sue businesses for retaliation, discrimination

washington divided Monday decided harder for Americans businesses for retaliation and discrimination, leading a justice to call forCongress to overturn the court’s actions.

The court’s conservatives, in two 5-4 decisions, ruled that a person must be able to hire and fire someone to be considered a supervisor in discrimination lawsuits, making it harder to blame a business for a co-worker’s racism or sexism. The court then decided to limit howjuries can decide retaliation lawsuits, saying victims must prove employers would not have taken action against them but for their intention to retaliate.

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg wrote both dissents for the court’s liberal wing, and in a rare move, read them aloud in the courtroom. She said the high court had “corralled Title VII,” a lawdesigned to stop discrimination in the nation’s workplaces. Ginsberg then called on Congress to change the law to overturn the court.

Court overturns award against generic drug maker.

The Supreme Court reinforced its ban on lawsuits by patients against generic drug makers, overturning a $21 million award to awomanwho suffered debilitating injuries after taking a generic painkiller.

The justices, voting 5-4, said the federal drug-approval regime prevented Karen L. Bartlett fromclaiming the medication’s design was unreasonably dangerous in violation of New Hampshire product-liability law.

Bartlett suedMutual Pharmaceutical Co., a drugmaker sold this year to Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd.

Pfizer suits.

liable

for

asbestos

The Supreme Court refused to shield Pfizer Inc. from some asbestos lawsuits connected to its Quigley Co. subsidiary, a bankrupt unit that stopped most operations in 1992.

The justicesMonday rejected Pfizer’s appeal of a ruling that opened the New York-based drug maker to some claims related to Quigley, which made asbestos-containing products for the steel industry from the 1940s to the 1970s.