Bernard Meltzer Gail Heriot

Bernie Meltzer, my labor law teacher at the University of Chicago Law School, died this past week after a long and full life.  He was 92.  Meltzer was a wonderful man, who was never too busy to chat with students about the law and occasionally about life.  He will be missed by all those who knew him, including the members of the Class of ’81. 

I will remember him in particular for his critique of the decision in United Steelworkers v. Weber–in which the Supreme Court held that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 didn’t mean what it said.  Meltzer nailed them.  Here’s the cite:  The Weber Case: The Judicial Abrogation of the Antidiscrimination Standard in Employment,” 47 U. Chi. L. Rev. 423 (1980).