A Divided U.S. Supreme Court Hears Oral Arguments on Trio of LGBT Employment Discrimination Cases (US)
On October 8, 2019, the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral argument in three employment discrimination cases involving what protection, if any, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 – which prohibits discrimination in employment on the basis of, among other things, sex – affords against sexual orientation and gender identity-based discrimination. As we previously discussed here, there is currently no explicit protection against such discrimination under federal law, and federal appellate courts are split on the issue. This term, the Supreme Court will determine whether the language in Title VII that prohibits employment discrimination “because of … sex” also extends to sexual orientation and transgender-based discrimination. The cases involve three employees, two gay men and a transgender woman, who were fired because of their LGBT status. Pamela Karlan, attorney for the one of the men, argued before the Court that se...