SCOTUS Rules 6-3 That LGBTQ People are Protected Under Federal Employment Discrimination Laws

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled 6-3 that LGBTQ people are protected under federal employment discrimination laws, ruling on arguments on Title VII, in cases involving whether someone can be fired from their job for being gay or transgender.

Neil Gorsuch and Chief Justice John Roberts joined the liberal justices to form the majority in Bostock v. Clayton County, Altitude Express v. Zarda, and R.G. & G.R. Harris Funeral Homes Inc. v. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

Altitude Express v. Zarda from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, and Bostock v. Clayton County from the Eleventh Circuit were argued together and dealt with sexual orientation. R.G. & G.R. Harris Funeral Homes Inc. v. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission dealt with transgender rights. The Court ruled on all the cases together. They had been expected to rule separately.

SCOTUSblog offered background on Zarda and Bostock before arguments in October: “Zarda (who died in 2014, and who is represented in the Supreme Court by the executors of his estate) was a skydiving instructor who sometimes told female clients that he was gay to make them feel more comfortable when they were strapped to him for a jump. Gerald Bostock received good performance reviews while working as the child-welfare-services coordinator for Clayton County, Georgia, for over a decade. Both men were fired – according to them, because they were gay. Zarda and Bostock went to federal court in New York and Georgia, respectively, where they argued that firing them because they were gay violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits discrimination “because of sex.” The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit ruled that Bostock’s case could not go forward, because Title VII does not apply to discrimination based on sexual orientation. But the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit reached the opposite conclusion: It reasoned that discrimination based on sexual orientation is a ‘subset of sex discrimination.’”

SCOTUSblog added: “In their briefs in the Supreme Court, Bostock and Zarda argue…

Read full story, and more, from Source: SCOTUS Rules 6-3 That LGBTQ People are Protected Under Federal Employment Discrimination Laws