The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) recently filed its first suits challenging sexual orientation discrimination as sex discrimination—one has its origin in Pennsylvania and the other case originates from Maryland. In two separate lawsuits, the agency charges that a gay male employee and a lesbian employee were subjected to hostile work environments because of their sex.
This comes just 10 months after the agency found that bringing such charges was legally permissible based on a long line of precedent. On July 15, 2015, the EEOC ruled in a 3-2 decision that sexual orientation discrimination is illegal under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 because it’s a form of “sex” discrimination, which is explicitly forbidden. The EEOC relied on its previous decision finding that Title VII bars discrimination on the basis of gender identity and protecting transgender employees, but this groundbreaking decision effectively declares that employment discrimination against gay, lesbian and bisexual workers is unlawful in all 50 states. The EEOC’s decision regarding LGBT discrimination in the workplace has been a long time in the making and can be traced back to a unanimous 1998 U.S. Supreme Court opinion in Oncale v. Sundowner Offshore Services, 523 U.S. 75 (1998), written by none other than former Justice Antonin Scalia.
This content has been archived. It is available through our partners, LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law.
To view this content, please continue to their sites.
Not a Lexis Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
Not a Bloomberg Law Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law are third party online distributors of the broad collection of current and archived versions of ALM's legal news publications. LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law customers are able to access and use ALM's content, including content from the National Law Journal, The American Lawyer, Legaltech News, The New York Law Journal, and Corporate Counsel, as well as other sources of legal information.
For questions call 1-877-256-2472 or contact us at [email protected]
