Michelle Travis

Professor

Biography
Scholarship
Service
Media

Professor Michelle Travis is a Dean’s Circle Scholar and co-director of USF’s Labor and Employment Law Program. She specializes in employment law with a focus on disability discrimination, sex discrimination, and work/family balance. Her interdisciplinary scholarship uses social cognition and sociology research to reveal how antidiscrimination law could be used to eliminate structural, organizational, and cognitive biases in the workplace. She regularly speaks on these topics around the country, including at a recent Senate Roundtable as an expert on workplace flexibility. Travis serves on the editorial board of the Chicago-Kent Employee Rights and Employment Policy Journal, and her articles have been published in the Vanderbilt Law Review, the North Carolina Law Review, and the Washington and Lee Law Review, among others. She is a founding member of the Work and Family Researchers Network and she is a former chair of the Association of American Law Schools Section on Employment Discrimination Law. Travis teaches Employment Law, Torts, Remedies, and Work/Family Law, and has received two distinguished teaching awards.

Education

BA, Cornell University
JD, Stanford University

Prior Experience

Assistant Professor, Lewis & Clark Law School
Adjunct Professor, Santa Clara School of Law
Teaching Fellow, Stanford Law School
Employment Litigation Associate, Heller Ehrman White & McAuliffe
Law Clerk, Hon. David M. Ebel, U.S. Court of Appeals, Tenth Circuit

Awards

Dean's Circle Scholar, USF School of Law (2010)
Distinguished Professor Award, USF School of Law (2006)
Leo Levinson Award for Most Outstanding Professor, Lewis & Clark Law School (2003)

Title	Outlets	Date
"Recently Published Scholarship: Lewis & Clark L. Rev."	Workplace Prof Blog	06/20/12
"Travis on Impairment as Protected Status"	Disability Law	10/27/11
"New Scholarship"	Workplace Prof Blog	10/27/11
"Travis: 'What a Difference a Day Makes, or Does It? Work/Family Balance and the Four-Day Work Week'"	Family Law Prof Blog	05/19/10
"Travis: Work/Life and the 4-Day Work Week"	Workplace Prof Blog	04/25/10
"Recently Published Scholarship"	Workplace Prof Blog	06/01/09
"Travis on Benefits of the ADA for the Nondisabled"	USLaw.com	06/02/08
"Travis on the ADA's Benefits for People without Disabilities"	Disability Law	05/27/08
"USF University of Law: How the ADA Benefits People Without Disabilities"	Six. Almost Seven.	05/27/08
"The ADA Anti-Backlash"	USLaw.com	05/25/08
"Stew—Or Sue? Up Against 'the Maternal Wall,' What’s a Working Mother To Do?"	The Oprah Magazine	05/01/08
"Travis on the Transformative Potential of Employment Discrimination Law"	Disability Law	05/19/05

Books

Law Review and Journal Articles

"Impairment as Protected Status: A New Universality for Disability Rights," 46 Georgia Law Review (2012). SSRN
"Toward Positive Equality: Taking the Disparate Impact Out of Disparate Impact Theory," 16 Lewis & Clark Law Review 527 (2012). SSRN
"What a Difference a Day Makes, Or Does It? Work/Family Balance and the Four-Day Work Week," 42 Connecticut Law Review 1223 (2010). SSRN
"The Future of Work-Family Policy: Is 'Choice' the Right Choice?" 13 Employee Rights and Employment Policy Journal 385 (2009). SSRN
"Lashing Back at the ADA Backlash: How the Americans With Disabilities Act Benefits Americans Without Disabilities," 76 Tennessee Law Review 311 (2009). SSRN
"The PDA's Causation Effect: Observations of an Unreasonable Woman," 21 Yale Journal of Law and Feminism 51 (2009). (Symposium Issue) SSRN
"The Full-Time Face-Time Norm: Lessons from the United Kingdom," 10 Employee Rights and Employment Policy Journal 257 (2006). (Proceedings of the 2006 AALS Section on Labor Relations and Employment Law Annual Meeting.)
"Recapturing the Transformative Potential of Employment Discrimination Law," 62 Washington and Lee Law Review 1 (2005). SSRN
"Equality in the Virtual Workplace," 24 Berkeley Journal of Employment & Labor Law 283 (2003). SSRN
"Perceived Disabilities, Social Cognition, and Innocent Mistakes," 55 Vanderbilt Law Review 481 (2002). SSRN
"Telecommuting: The Escher Stairway of Work/Family Conflict," 55 Maine Law Review 262 (2002). (Symposium Issue) SSRN
"Leveling the Playing Field or Stacking the Deck? The 'Unfair Advantage' Critique of Perceived Disability Claims," 78 North Carolina Law Review 901 (2000). SSRN
"Psychological Health Tests for Violence-Prone Police Officers: Objectives, Shortcomings, and Alternatives," 46 Stanford Law Review 1717 (1994).
"Defending the Indigent During a War on Crime," 1 Cornell Journal of Law & Public Policy 69 (1992). (Co-authored with John Martin.)

Book Contributions

Opinion Pieces and Blog Posts

Other Publications

"Americans with Disabilities Act: High Court Endorses Disparate Impact Theory," Issue 1356, No. 866, Pt. 2 Labor Law Reporter (CCH) (2004).
High Court Endorses Disparate Impact Theory," 148 Accommodating Disabilities (CCH) (2004).

Briefs

U.S. Supreme Court, AT&T v. Hulteen et al (2008) (No. 07-543). (The brief was signed by professors of law on behalf of respondents Hulteen et al. Read brief here.)

Court Citation of Research

Presentations

Presenter, "The 'Part and Parcel' of Impairment Discrimination," Loyola University Chicago School of Law and Northwestern University School of Law "Seventh Annual Labor and Employment Law Colloquium," Chicago, Ill. (September 2012).
Commentator, "The Flexibility Stigma and the Caretaker Penalty: Legal and Sociological Perspectives," Work and Family Research Network Inaugural Conference, New York, N.Y. (June 2012).
Presenter, "Toward Positive Equality: Taking the Disparate Impact Out of Disparate Impact Theory," Lewis & Clark Law School's 16th Annual Business and Law Fall Forum "The Protected-Class Approach to Antidiscrimination Law: Logic, Effects, Reform," Portland, Oreg. (September 2011).
Presenter, "What a Difference a Day Makes, or Does It? Work-Family Balance and the Four-Day Work Week," Connecticut Law Review's Symposium "Redefining Work: Implications of the Four-Day Work Week," Hartford, Conn. (October 2009).
Presenter, "Toward a New Universality: The Americans With and Without Disabilities Act," Washington University School of Law Fifth Annual Colloquium on Current Scholarship in Labor and Employment Law, St. Louis, Mo. (September 2010).
Presenter, "Review of United States Supreme Court and California Supreme Court Cases on Labor and Employment in the 2009-2010 Term," Bar Association of San Francisco, San Francisco (June 2010). (Co-presented with USF School of Law Professor Ontiveros. )
Presenter, "What a Difference a Day Makes, or Does It? Work-Family Balance and the Four-Day Work Week," University of Connecticut School of Law, Law Review Symposium "Redefining Work: Implications of the Four-Day Work Week," Hartford, Conn. (October 2009).
Presenter, "The Legal 'Back Door' to Work-Family Balance," UC Hastings College of the Law Sixth International Carework Conference, San Francisco (August 2009).
Presenter, "Review of Labor and Employment Cases Decided in the 2008–09 Term," Bar Association of San Francisco, (July 2009). (Co-presented with USF School of Law Professor Maria Ontiveros.)
Presenter, "The ADA and You—How Laws Intended to Help the Disabled Affect Those With and Without Disabilities," University of San Francisco School of Law, (March 2009).
Presenter, "Lashing Back at the ADA Backlash: How the Americans with Disabilities Act Benefits Americans Without Disabilities," Northwestern University School of Law Employment Law Colloquium, Chicago, Ill. (February 2009).
Moderator, "Past, Present, and Future: High-Skilled Immigrants in the U.S. Workforce," University of San Francisco Law Review Symposium "Evolving Definition of the Immigrant Worker: The Intersection Between Employment, Labor, and Human Rights Law," (February 2009).
Presenter, "Building a More Flexible and Accessible Profession: What Changes are Possible?" Bar Association of San Francisco, San Francisco (January 2009).
Presenter, "Pregnancy, the PDA, and the ADA," Yale Law School, Yale Journal of Law and Feminism Symposium, "Respecting Expecting: The 30th Anniversary of the PDA," New Haven, Conn. (November 2008).
Panelist, Seton Hall Annual Employment and Labor Law Scholars' Forum, Newark, N.J. (October 2008).
Presenter, "The Social Science Behind Family Responsibilities Discrimination and the Prospects for Caregiver Non-Discrimination Legislation," UC Hastings College of the Law Conference on "Family Responsibilities Discrimination: Lessons for the Use of Stereotyping Evidence and Implicit Bias in Employment Cases," San Francisco (February 2008).
Presenter, "Lashing Back at the ADA Backlash: How the Americans With Disabilities Act Benefits Americans Without Disabilities," University of Denver Sturm College of Law and University of Colorado Law School Second Annual Colloquium on Current Scholarship in Labor and Employment Law, Denver and Boulder, Colo. (September 2007).
Presenter, "Part-Time Arrangements as Reasonable Accommodations," Bar Association of San Francisco Conference on "Hiring and Retaining Attorneys with Disabilities," San Francisco (July 2007).
Moderator, "Affirmative Obligations: Accommodations in the Workplace," UC Hastings College of the Law National Disability Law Symposium, San Francisco (February 2007).
Moderator, "Dispute Resolution in Action: Examining the Reality of Employment Discrimination Cases," 2007 Annual Meeting of the Association of American Law Schools Sections on Employment Discrimination and Alternative Dispute Resolution, (January 2007). (Proceedings available in Employee Rights & Employment Policy Journal, 2007.)
Presenter, "Gender Stereotyping and the Full-Time Face-Time Norm," University of San Francisco School of Law Third Annual WorkLife Law Conference on Working Time, (March 2006).
Moderator, "Gender Stereotyping—Expanding the Boundaries of Title VII," 2006 Annual Meeting of the Association of American Law Schools Section on Employment Discrimination Law, Washington, D.C. (January 2006). (Proceedings available in Employee Rights & Employment Policy Journal, 2006.)
Presenter, "The Full-Time Face-Time Norm: Lessons from the United Kingdom," 2006 Annual Meeting of the Association of American Law Schools Section on Labor Relations and Employment Law, Washington, D.C. (January 2006). (Proceedings available in Employee Rights & Employment Policy Journal, 2006. Presentation during panel "Employment Protection for Atypical Workers.")
Presenter, "Recapturing the Transformative Potential of Employment Discrimination Law," University of Connecticut School of Law Workshop Series, Hartford, Conn. (April 2005).
Presenter, "Stereotyping, Opting Out, and the Law: The Family Responsive Workplace in Europe and the United States," American University Washington College of Law Second Annual WorkLife Law Conference on Working Time, Washington, D.C. (March 2005).
Presenter, "Supreme Court Review: What the U.S. and California Supreme Court Decisions Have Done For (or To) Labor and Employment Law," Bar Association of San Francisco, San Francisco (July 2004).
Presenter, "Legislative Approaches to Flexibility and Reduced Working Time," American University Washington College of Law First Annual WorkLife Law Conference on "Working Time for Working Families—Europe and the USA," Washington, D.C. (June 2004).
Presenter, "The Full-Time Face-Time Norm and the Untapped Transformative Potential of Employment Discrimination Law," The Law and Society Association Annual Meeting, Chicago, Ill. (May 2004).
Presenter, "Undermining the Transformative Potential of Employment Discrimination Law," The Central States Law School Association Conference, Toledo, Ohio (September 2003).
Presenter, "Undermining the Transformative Potential of Employment Discrimination Law," The Law and Society Association Annual Meeting, Pittsburgh, Penn. (June 2003).
Presenter, "Equality in the Virtual Workplace," Business and Professional Women's Foundation Annual Meeting "From 9-to-5 to 24/7: How Workplace Changes Impact Families, Work, and Communities," Orlando, Fla. (March 2003).
Presenter, "Employment Law Pitfalls: New Supreme Court Cases on the ADA," Oregon Law Institute, Portland, Ore. (February 2003).
Presenter, "Sex Discrimination in the Virtual Workplace," University of Texas School of Law Conference on "Subversive Legacies: Learning from History/Constructing the Future," Austin, Texas (November 2002).
Presenter, "Telecommuting: The Escher Stairway of Work/Family Conflict," University of Maine School of Law Symposium on "Law, Labor, and Gender,", Portland, Maine (September 2002).
Presenter, "Sex Discrimination in the Virtual Workplace," The Law and Society Annual Meeting, Vancouver, B.C (May 2002).
Moderator, "Working It Out: The Developing Law on Employment Arbitration Agreements," Lewis & Clark Law School, Portland, Ore. (March 2002).
Presenter, "Perceived Disabilities, Social Cognition, and 'Innocent Mistakes'," Stanford Law School Stanford/Yale Junior Faculty Forum, Palo Alto, Calif. (June 2001).

Testimony and Hearings

Written Testimony and Commentary

Signatory, letter in support of the confirmation of Judge Sonia Sotomayor on behalf of professors of disability law, disability rights law, and special education law (June 2009).

Advisor or Consultant

Counsel

Symposia Organization

Co-Organizer, University of San Francisco School of Law Conference "Moving Equality Forward: A Conversation on Present and Future Directions of Lawyering for Equality" (March 2010).
Co-Organizer, University of San Francisco School of Law Conference "Maximizing Client Service with Part-Time Attorney Schedules" (March 2006).
Co-Organizer, University of San Francisco School of Law Third Annual WorkLife Law Conference on Working Time (March 2006).

Professional Membership

Editorial Board, Chicago-Kent Employee Rights and Employment Policy Journal (2006 to present).
Board of Visitors, Lewis & Clark Law School (2003 to present).
Chair, Association of American Law School Section on Employment Discrimination Law (2006).
Chair-Elect, Association of American Law School Section on Employment Discrimination Law (2005).
Executive Board Member, Association of American Law School Section on Employment Discrimination Law (2004).

Fellowships

Other Service

Participant, Democratic Steering and Outreach Committee Meeting, Washington, D.C. (March 2012). (Travis discussed job creation and “economic empowerment” for women and families with U.S. senators.)
Co-organizer, University of San Francisco School of Law Annual Jack Pemberton Lecture on Workplace Justice, San Francisco, Calif. (March 2012)
Founding Member, Work and Family Researchers Network (2011).
Co-Organizer, first meeting of the Labor and Employment Advisory Board (2010).
Participant, Workplace Flexibility 2010, Georgetown University Law Center (November 2007).
Participant, Caregiver Bias Working Group, WorkLife Law Center, UC Hastings College of the Law (May 2007).
Co-Organizer, University of San Francisco School of Law Annual Jack Pemberton Lecture on Workplace Justice (2004 to present).
Participant, Northwestern Law School Law and Society Summer Institute "Legal Scholars and Social Scientists: Critique, Challenge, and Collaboration," Chicago, Ill. (July 2002).