Abstract
In Geduldig v. Aielo, the United States Supreme Court held that California's refusal to insure normal pregnancies in the state disability insurance program was not a violation of the equal protection clause of the fourteenth amendment. Over strong dissent, the Court held that California could take one step at a time in selecting the disabilities its insurance program would cover. Therefore, the statutory scheme did not involve a denial of equal protection and the district court was reversed. In this holding, the Court offered dicta which have sewn the seeds of confusion in the lower courts and left murkier than ever the question of the constitutionality of sex-based classifications.
I. Introduction
II. The Facts
III. The Court’s Reasoning
IV. Footnote 20 … A. The Classification … B. Pretexts Designed to Effect Invidious Discrimination … C. Pregnancy-Based Classifications as Sex-Based Classifications
V. Sex-Based Classifications under Title VII
VI. Conclusion
Recommended Citation
Rebecca L. Ross,
The Supreme Court Avoids Considering Sex-Based Classifications: Geduldig v. Aiello, 417 U.S. 484 (1974),
55 Neb. L. Rev. 133
(1976)
Available at: https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/nlr/vol55/iss1/8