Sex Discrimination Claim: In the Muldrow case, a female police sergeant brought a sex discrimination suit claiming she was transferred to a lateral position in a different division because new leadership wanted to hire a man for her current role. Nuances of the Law: Title VII of the Civil Rights Act bars employers from discriminating against employees based on race, color, national origin, religion, and sex. But what if an employee was allegedly forced to accept a lateral transfer – with the same pay and benefits – for a discriminatory reason? Is it still unlawful, even if the employee fails to show the transfer caused them a significant disadvantage? The Facts: Sergeant Muldrow was transferred from the Intelligence Division to a role in the Fifth District when a new commander made a number of personnel changes, including transferring 22 officers (17 of whom were male) into various other positions. Muldrow alleged the transfer constituted an adverse employment action that could sustain a Title VII claim because her Fifth District work was more administrative and less prestigious than that of the Intelligence Division, and more akin to basic entry level work. Her prior position carried perks, including the opportunity to work in plain clothes, keep a strict Monday-to-Friday schedule, and access an unmarked FBI vehicle. Appellate Court Sided with Employer: The district court and the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals sided with the police department, finding that Title VII bars only adverse employment actions that result in a materially significant disadvantage for the employee. Specifically, her pay and rank remained the same, she was given a supervisory role, she was responsible for investigating important crimes such as homicides, and her time in the Fifth District did not harm her future career prospects. As the 8th Circuit said, “an employee’s reassignment, absent proof of harm resulting from that reassignment, is insufficient to constitute an adverse employment action.” Several other appellate courts, however, have found that a forced lateral transfer is an adverse action even if the employee fails to show that the move caused any additional injury. The Question for SCOTUS to Answer: Does Title VII prohibit discrimination in transfer decisions absent a separate court determination that the transfer decision caused a significant disadvantage? Notably, the employee posed a broader question in her petition to the Supreme Court, and her attorney spent considerable time at oral argument discussing the ways the transfer actually caused her harm. But the Justices limited the question before the Court to the narrow issue above – which led us to correctly predict that they would similarly issue a narrow ruling. | 
