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On April 22, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to place three employment cases on its docket for the October term—Bostock v. Clayton County, Georgia, Altitude Express v. Zarda and R.G. & G.R. Harris Funeral Homes v. Equal Opportunity Employment Commission. Each of the cases asks the court to interpret that language of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VII) that prohibits discrimination on the basis of “sex” broadly to embrace claims based on sexual orientation or gender identity discrimination. All of the parties watching the trio of cases closely hope the court will provide clear guidance on the interpretation of Title VII as federal courts currently are split as to whether federal law provides employees protection from discrimination based upon their sexual orientation or gender identity.

Currently, South Florida employees in Broward, Palm Beach, Miami-Dade and Monroe counties have neither a federal cause of action based upon Title VII nor a cause of action based on the Florida Civil Rights Act (FCRA). Only a patchwork of county and local ordinances (see, e.g., Miami Dade Code of Ordinances, Section 11A-26) make it unlawful in those jurisdictions for employers to consider sexual orientation when engaging with their employees with regard to job duties and employment decisions.

For now, Florida has no statewide statute specifically prohibiting bias in hiring, promotion, job assignment, termination or compensation on the basis of one's sexual orientation. Unlike some state laws that specifically prohibit discrimination on the basis of “sexual orientation,” the FCRA does not include such specific language and has not been interpreted to cover such situations.