"Justice is backing Ellerth's appeal, which runs against the argument of the President's private attorney," says TIME White House correspondent Jay Branegan. "The Justice Department is trying to counter what it perceives to be an anti-plaintiff drift in the courts." Needless to say, this would be one administration victory unlikely to get the boss lighting up a stogie.
Justice Adopts Paula Jones' Legal Argument
Et tu, Janet? President Clinton's attorneys may have persuaded Judge Susan
Webber Wright that Paula Jones' damages claim has no merit, but Janet Reno
is not convinced. The Supreme Court today hears an appeal with direct
bearing on the Jones case -- and the Justice Department has weighed in on
the same side as Paula's camp. Kimberley Ellerth's suit against Burlington
Industries was rejected by a lower court on the grounds that even though
she might have suffered sexual harassment, she had not shown that she
suffered any form of retaliation on the job.