Supreme Court Rules That Title VII Protects LGBTQ Employees

• Published date: 13 August 2020
• Subject Matter: Employment and HR, Discrimination, Disability & Sexual Harassment
• Law Firm: Mintz
• Author: Mr Corbin Carter and Michael S. Arnold

In a landmark opinion, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 protects gay, lesbian, and transgender employees from employment discrimination. The Court's holding will have major implications for employers and LGBTQ employees in dozens of states where state and/or local law do not already prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or transgender status.

Mintz is proud to have authored a pro bono amicus brief in support of Plaintiff Aimee Stephens, the lone transgender employee in the three consolidated cases. Mintz worked alongside nearly 40 leading scholars in the law and history of transgender rights, in coordination with GLAD (GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders) and Freedom for All Americans.

Title VII Prohibits Sexual Orientation and Transgender Status Discrimination

The Court's 6-3 majority opinion in Bostock v. Clayton County, Ga. authored by Justice Gorsuch, provided a sweeping affirmation that the text of Title VII - the federal statute prohibiting employment discrimination on the basis of "sex," among other protected categories - protects gay, lesbian, and transgender employees from workplace discrimination. It resulted from three distinct cases. Two of the three consolidated cases regarded Title VII's application to "sexual orientation" discrimination: Bostock v. Clayton County (No. 17-1618) from the Eleventh Circuit (Georgia), and Altitude Express, Inc v. Zarda (No. 17-1623) from the Second Circuit (New York). In both of those cases, employers fired gay employees because of the employees' sexual orientation - that is, an individual's sexual identity in relation to the gender to which they are attracted (e.g., homosexuality, bisexuality, heterosexuality). A third case, R.G. & G.R. Harris Funeral Homes, Inc. v EEOC (No. 18-107) from the Sixth Circuit (Michigan) focused on protection for transgender employees. In that case, a transgender woman was fired by her employer after (and the employer admitted because) she revealed her transgender status (an individual's sense of personal identity and gender that does not correspond with their birth sex).

The Court held these employment actions violated Title VII "The statute's message for our cases is equally simple and momentous: An individual's homosexuality or transgender status is not relevant to employment decisions. That's because it is impossible to discriminate against a person for being homosexual or transgender without discriminating...