Chapter 17 of a book on school law is an historical review of judicial decisions and legislative enactments that apply to employment. The purpose of the chapter is to analyze those cases concerned with discrimination because of sex, age, or national origin, and to discuss the decisions of the U.S. Supreme Court in these areas. Not until the passage of Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act did Congress expressly make it unlawful for an employer to engage in discriminatory practices against an employee on the basis of sex. Since then a number of legal arguments have concerned the issues of pregnancy and sexual harrassment. Title VII of the Civil Rights Act declared sex discrimination in employment illegal in all institutions outside of education. This resultant gap led to the enactment of Title IX of the Education Amendment Act, designed to guard women educators against sex discrimination. The Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 and its amendments in 1974 prohibit arbitrary age discrimination in employment. While Title VII prohibits discrimination based on national origin, most cases appear to have been instituted under provisions of the Constitution. (Author/MLF)