In addition to issues involving the environment, immigration, and national security, the Trump Administration has been in the headlines recently for its stance on matters impacting the LGBT community.
Articles Discussing Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Issues In The Workplace.
Trump Administration Rescinds Guidance on Transgender Rights under Title IX
The Trump Administration has announced that the Department of Education (DOE) and the Department of Justice (DOJ) rescinded the Obama Administration’s May 2016 Dear Colleague Letter directing that schools “treat a student’s gender identity as the student’s sex for purposes of Title IX and its implementing regulations.”
Trump Administration Withdraws Motion Seeking to Limit Court’s Stay of Obama’s Transgender Bathroom Guidance in Public Schools
Executive Summary: There has been much speculation about the Trump administration’s position with respect to LGBTQ rights. We may now have our first glimpse. Just days after Jeff Sessions was confirmed as Attorney General, the government has withdrawn the motion filed by the Obama administration attempting to limit the nationwide temporary injunction blocking enforcement of the Obama administration’s executive order requiring that public schools permit students to use the bathroom consistent with their gender identity.
President Trump Reaffirms federal LGBT Protections
In a wave of executive actions taken by incoming President Trump repealing or modifying a variety of actions taken by President Obama, a question loomed regarding the future of current federal LGBT protections afforded under Executive Order 13672. That question has been answered. The White House announced today that “the order will remain intact.” Specifically, the Office of Press Secretary Sean Spicer stated that “President Trump continues to be respectful and supportive of LGBTQ rights, just as he was throughout the election.”
Sexual Orientation Discrimination is Prohibited by Title VII, Federal Court Rules
The prohibition against sex discrimination under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act extends to sexual orientation, Judge Cathy Bissoon of the Western District of Pennsylvania has ruled. EEOC v. Scott Medical Health Ctr., No. 16-225 (W.D. Pa. Nov. 4, 2016).
U.S. Supreme Court to Hear Transgender Student Case
The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear oral argument in one of the high-profile challenges to the legality of the Dear Colleague Letter (“DCL”) jointly issued by the U.S. Departments of Justice and Education on May 13, 2016, announcing the Departments would “treat a student’s gender identity as the student’s sex for purposes of Title IX and its implementing regulations.” Gloucester County School Board v. G.G., 822 F.3d 709 (4th Cir. 2016), cert. granted (U.S. Oct. 28, 2016) (No. 16-273).
Full Seventh Circuit To Consider Whether Title VII Protects Sexual Orientation
Executive Summary: Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 does not specifically include sexual orientation as one of its protected traits. In July 2015, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) for the first time took the position that Title VII protects federal employees from sexual orientation discrimination in the workplace. However, courts have considered this non-binding precedent, instead maintaining that sex-based discrimination does not include sexual orientation – but that could soon change. On October 11, 2016, in Hively v. Ivy Tech Community College, South Bend, the Seventh Circuit vacated its own prior ruling that sexual orientation is not protected by Title VII, and granted a motion to have all of the sitting Seventh Circuit judges consider the issue. LGBTQ advocates, Human Resources professionals and employment lawyers should take note and keep their eye on this emerging area of the law.
Seventh Circuit to Reconsider Title VII Prohibition of Discrimination Based on Sexual Orientation
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, in Chicago, has vacated the July 28, 2016, decision of a Seventh Circuit three-judge panel holding that sexual orientation discrimination is not sex discrimination under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act and granted rehearing en banc (by the full court).
Court Decisions Could Frustrate Obama Administration Efforts to Protect Transgender Students, Employees
A flurry of judicial activity has surrounded the Obama Administration’s efforts to provide legal protection to transgender individuals by extending protection against sex discrimination to cover gender identity under Title IX of the Education Act of 1972 and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
The Internal Revenue Service Issues Final Rules Defining Marriage
The Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) has recognized that marriages of couples of the same sex should be treated the same as marriages of couples of the opposite sex for federal tax purposes. On September 2, 2016, the IRS issued final regulations — in furtherance of the Supreme Court’s decisions in Obergefell v. Hodges and Windsor v. United States, as well as Revenue Ruling 2013-17 — defining marriage for federal tax purposes. The IRS’s final regulations generally adopt the rules proposed by the IRS in October 2015 and amend the Income Tax Regulations, Estate Tax Regulations, Gift Tax Regulations, Generation-Skipping Transfer Tax Regulations, Employment Tax and Collection of Income Tax at Source Regulations and the Regulations on Procedure and Administration.
Court Dismisses on Religious Freedom Grounds EEOC’s Title VII Suit on Behalf of Fired Transgender Employee
Finding the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission failed to accommodate the religious beliefs of a funeral home’s owner who fired a transgender employee under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, a federal district court has dismissed the Commission’s discrimination lawsuit brought under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act. EEOC v. R.G. & G.R. Harris Funeral Homes, Inc., No. 14-13710 (E.D. Mich. Aug. 18, 2016).
Discrimination Based on Sexual Orientation Not Protected by Title VII, Federal Court Rules
The anti-discrimination protections under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act do not encompass workplace discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, in Chicago, has held. Hively v. Ivy Tech Community College, No. 15-1720 (7th Cir. July 28, 2016) (an Order Correcting Opinion was issued on Aug. 3, 2016).
EEOC: Title VII Prohibits Employment Discrimination Based on Gender Identity, Sexual Orientation
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has stated definitively that it interprets, and will enforce accordingly, the Civil Right Act’s Title VII’s prohibition on sex discrimination as encompassing employment discrimination based on gender identity and sexual orientation. Employers should review and update their policies and apply them consistently and fairly to all employees regardless of gender identity or sexual orientation.
LGBT Update: Five Things You Need to Know About the Transforming Workplace
We have all heard about the Obama administration’s directive barring employers and schools from gender identity discrimination and the battle over North Carolina’s law, known as H.B.2, which requires people to use bathrooms that match the gender listed on their birth certificate. But aside from the bathroom debate in North Carolina, there are other important developments in the area of LGBT rights that have gotten less attention but are equally important for employers and those who advise them to be aware of. Here are five things you need to consider in this rapidly evolving area of employment law:
Department of Justice Warns Governor that North Carolina LGBT Law is Unlawful
North Carolina’s law restricting access to restrooms based on an individual’s sex assigned at birth and not based on an individual’s consistent gender identity violates both Title VII of the Civil Rights Act and Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, the United States Department of Justice has said in a letter to North Carolina Governor Pat McCrory dated May 4, 2016. The DOJ also instructed Governor McCrory that he has until May 9, 2016, to respond by confirming that the state will not implement the law.