Discrimination, Civil Rights Act, LGBTQ

Navigating the Rock & the Hard Place: Conflicting Federal and State Mandates for LGBTQ Employees

Foley & Lardner LLP on 5/14/2024

“The rock and the hard place.” How often do employers find themselves here? If employers have LGBTQ employees in certain states, they are now bumping up against the “rock” of federal laws, like Title VII and Title IX, and the...more

Seventh Circuit Takes On Religious Discrimination

Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP on 5/24/2023

The Seventh U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals recently affirmed summary judgment in favor of an employer in a religious discrimination case involving a teacher who refused to call transgender students by their chosen names....more

District Court Enjoins EEOC and Department of Education Guidance Protecting LGBTQ Rights

Bass, Berry & Sims PLC on 7/26/2022

On July 15, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee entered a preliminary injunction barring the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and the Department of Education (ED) from enforcing...more

First Texas Court of Appeals to Follow Bostock Ruling

Baker Donelson on 3/24/2021

Nine months after the United States Supreme Court's historic decision in Bostock, the Texas Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals had to decide whether the interpretation of Title VII's language in protecting LGBTQ employees also...more

Biden Administration Issues Order on Gender Identity and Sexual Orientation

Morgan Lewis on 1/25/2021

As one of his first actions in office, President Joe Biden has issued an executive order ensuring that last year’s US Supreme Court decision in Bostock v. Clayton County is applied immediately and efficiently by all federal...more

Georgia Trend: City Ordinances Require Private Employers to Expand Workplace Anti-Discrimination Protections

Littler on 3/23/2020

Georgia law prohibits private employers from discriminating against employees on the basis of age, disability and sex (specifically compensation-based claims). There are, however, no state statutes prohibiting private...more

The Uncertain Landscape of Discrimination & Harassment Laws: Expanding the Definition of “Protected Class”

Seyfarth Shaw LLP on 6/5/2019

Seyfarth Synopsis: Laws protecting individuals from discrimination and harassment in the workplace are expanding rapidly at the state and local levels, while the federal landscape remains unclear regarding LGBTQ rights. ...more

4 Key Trends In Workplace Class Action Litigation For 2017: #3 Governmental Enforcement Litigation

Seyfarth Shaw LLP on 1/19/2018

Seyfarth Synopsis: Despite the major ideological shift that occurred within American politics in 2017, government-initiated litigation continued to flourish if not increase even after with the election of the pro-business...more

Management Alert – The Current Federal Retrenchment on LGBT Rights

Seyfarth Shaw LLP on 8/22/2017

Seyfarth Synopsis: The first eight months of the new administration signals a retrenchment on the executive branch’s view of legal protections due LGBT individuals, including in employment....more

DOJ amicus brief in employment discrimination case undermines CFPB position on ECOA protection for sexual orientation

Ballard Spahr LLP on 8/3/2017

The Department of Justice has filed an amicus brief in a case pending before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit that presents the question of whether the prohibition on employment discrimination on the basis of...more

Does Transgender Military Ban Signal New Direction of Trump Administration on LGBTQ Rights?

FordHarrison on 8/2/2017

On July 26, 2017, President Trump announced via Twitter that the military, arguably the country’s largest employer, will no longer allow transgender people to serve, thus breaking from the Obama Administration’s lift of the...more

Eleventh Circuit Sets the Stage for U.S. Supreme Court Certification on Whether Sexual Orientation is Protected by Title VII

FordHarrison on 7/12/2017

On March 10, 2017, in Evans v. Georgia Regional Hospital, a split panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit held that it was bound by prior precedent that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 does not...more

EEOC Sues Apple Metro Restaurant Chain for Sex Discrimination & Retaliation

U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission... on 6/12/2017

Employee Was Harassed at Hawthorne Applebee's Because of Her Gender Identity And Fired for Objecting, Federal Agency Charges - NEW YORK - Apple Metro, Inc., which operates several dozen Applebee's Neighborhood Bar & Grill...more

Employment Law Authority - May/June 2017

Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart,... on 6/6/2017

THE EVOLVING DEFINITION OF SEX(UAL ORIENTATION) UNDER TITLE VII - On April 4, 2017, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals issued its highly anticipated decision in Hively v. Ivy Tech Community College of Indiana, making...more

Interesting Update: “Manufacturing” Law: Courts Join the States to Fill the Void

Robinson+Cole Manufacturing Law Blog on 6/6/2017

In a May 16 Blog Post, I reviewed several cases dealing with the question of whether Title VII’s ban on discrimination “because of . . . sex” included a ban on discrimination “because of sexual preferences.” I summarized...more

Full Second Circuit to Revisit Its Position On Sexual Orientation as a Protected Class Under Title VII

FordHarrison on 6/2/2017

While the Seventh Circuit definitively has held that sexual orientation discrimination is discrimination “because of sex” and, therefore, a violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended (as reported by...more

IXL Learning Sued by EEOC for Retaliation

U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission... on 5/25/2017

Employee Fired for Posting About Discrimination on Glassdoor.com, Federal Agency Charges - SAN FRANCISCO - Educational technology company IXL Learning Inc. violated federal law when it retaliated against an employee for...more

Did You Know . . . Seventh Circuit Issues Landmark Decision Holding Title VII Prohibits Sexual Orientation Discrimination

Nossaman LLP on 5/17/2017

In a landmark decision, the Seventh Circuit recently held that discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation is a form of actionable sex discrimination under Title VII of the federal Civil Rights Act of 1964. Unlike the...more

“Manufacturing” Law: Courts Also Move to Fill the Void

Robinson+Cole Manufacturing Law Blog on 5/17/2017

Last month, I wrote that in the absence of significant Congressional action on the labor and employment front, states and cities are increasingly willing to take steps to improve employment protections. Some courts appear...more

"Common Sense Reality": Seventh Circuit Holds That Sexual Orientation Discrimination Violates Title VII

FordHarrison on 4/27/2017

In a landmark decision overruling decades of precedent, the Seventh Circuit en banc declared that sexual orientation discrimination violates Title VII in Hively v. Ivy Tech Community College. This comes as the first decision...more

Expanding the Reach of Title VII: Seventh Circuit Recognizes Sexual Orientation as a Protected Class

Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler LLP on 4/18/2017

In a shift from its earlier interpretations, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit overruled its prior precedent and held in Hively v. Ivy Tech Community College of Indiana, No. 15-1720, 2017 U.S. App. LEXIS 5839...more

Does Title VII Prohibit Discrimination Based on Sexual Orientation: the Eleventh Circuit Says No, While the Seventh Circuit Says...

Burr & Forman on 4/18/2017

Since its inception, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VII) has prohibited employers from discriminating against employees and applicants because of their sex. In the past couple of years, plaintiffs, affinity...more

Discrimination › Civil Rights Act › LGBTQ