Women’s History Month reflection – Mary T. O’Sullivan

By Mary T. O’Sullivan, MSOL, contributing writer

“You’ve always had the power my dear, you just had to learn it for yourself,” – Glinda the Good Witch

On the last day of Women’s History Month, a fitting role model and women’s icon to honor is Ruth Bader Ginsberg, an equal rights lawyer and later, Supreme Court Justice.

It’s hard to believe that it’s been five years since the death of the great Supreme Court Justice, Ruth Bader Ginsberg. Appointed in 1993, Ruth Bader Ginsberg’s climb to the highest judicial body in the United States was fraught with challenge. How did this woman make her way through the labyrinth of social, political, and academic barriers to become the first Jewish and second woman on the Supreme Court?

Fighting prejudice against her every step of the way, Ginsberg was the first lawyer to win a sex discrimination case, in favor of a man, proving her strong commitment to equal rights for all. After two years at Harvard Law, she transferred to Colombia for a typical female reason; her husband got a job at a prestigious New York law firm, and Ruth promptly enrolled at Columbia University.

Ironically, after graduating at the top of her class at Columbia Law School, she could not land a job with a law firm or obtain a clerkship with the Supreme Court due to overt anti-female sexism in the legal profession in the 1950s and 1960s. This gender related rejection encouraged Ruth to take on cases involving sex discrimination.

Her first anti-discrimination win was with Charles E. Moritz v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue in 1972. Charles Moritz, an unmarried man, was denied a tax deduction for the care of his elderly mother. After losing in tax court, the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals overturned the tax court’s decision, stating that the IRS tax code was in direct conflict with the Equal Protection Clause of the U.S. Constitution. This ruling modified the US tax code and extended the caregiver deduction to men. Therefore, the IRS tax code was deemed unconstitutional and discriminatory on the basis of sex.

Just one year later, in 1973, Ruth brought before the court a case in which a man was denied social security benefits from his deceased wife. When Stephen Wiesenfeld’s wife died in childbirth, he applied for social security benefits for himself and his newborn son. The Social Security Act, as written in 1973, denied Mr. Wiesenfeld, himself, a benefit and was told only his son was eligible. This decision was based on language written into the Act which stated that “earnings of a deceased husband and father that are available to both the children and the widow. The benefits for a deceased wife and mother, however, are only available to the children”. Arguing in front of the Supreme Court, Ruth and her team convinced the Justices that the Social Security Act “violates the right to equal protection secured by the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment, since it unjustifiably discriminates against female wage earners required to pay social security taxes by affording them less protection for their survivors than is provided for male wage earners.”  The court expressed their decision firmly calling out the Social Security Act’s provisions as “… archaic and overbroad generalization not tolerated under the Constitution…”

Ruth’s fight for equal rights for men, proved beyond any doubt that gender discrimination was not just a “women’s issue”. She argued before the Supreme Court and established that all citizens are protected from discriminatory practices under the United States Constitution. In this way, she compelled the court to abolish gender stereotypes and false assumptions about men’s and women’s roles in life. She was a true advocate for equality and established that regardless of gender, everyone must be treated equally.

Of course, Ruth argued many cases representing women’s rights. She spent eight years fighting for equality for women as the Director of the ACLU’s Women’s Rights Project as well as their General Counsel.  In a case involving military housing, Frontiero versus Richardson, she argued that women in the military were entitled to the same housing and medical rights as male military members. The case involved an unfair advantage to males in that “female service members had to prove their husbands were “dependents” to receive housing and medical benefits, while the wives of male service members were automatically awarded these benefits.” The argument before the Court was that this policy violated the Fifth Amendment’s Due Process clause. The Court agreed and this ruling established that military benefits could not be provided differently based on gender. 

In researching Ruth Bader Ginsberg’s life and career, it became obvious that she argued or briefed just about every sex discrimination case that came before the Supreme Court in the 1970s. And for that reason, she is known in the legal world as the Thurgood Marshall (who argued Brown v Board of Education) of the anti-sex discrimination movement. Her ability to argue and win discrimination cases made her a champion of gender equality and equal treatment and protection under the law. We need to keep in mind RBG’s work in creating new laws and proclamations that are intended to minimize her legacy. We can’t allow 50 years of dedicated work to disappear with the stroke of a pen.

“Where you see wrong or inequality or injustice, speak out, because this is your country. This is your democracy… — Thurgood Marshall 

“So please ask yourself: What would I do if I weren’t afraid? And then go do it.” –  Sheryl Sandberg

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Mary T. O’Sullivan, Master of Science, Organizational Leadership, International Coaching Federation Professional Certified Coach, Society of Human Resource Management, “Senior Certified Professional. Graduate Certificate in Executive and Professional Career Coaching, University of Texas at Dallas.

Member, Beta Gamma Sigma, the International Honor Society.

Advanced Studies in Education from Montclair University, SUNY Oswego and Syracuse University.

Mary is also a certified Six Sigma Specialist, Contract Specialist, IPT Leader and holds a Certificate in Essentials of Human Resource Management from SHRM.