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| Supreme Court to Hear Cases on Bias Against L.G.B.T. Workers | |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court will hear arguments on Tuesday on whether a landmark civil rights law protects gay and transgender people from workplace discrimination. | WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court will hear arguments on Tuesday on whether a landmark civil rights law protects gay and transgender people from workplace discrimination. |
| The court has not heard a gay rights case since the retirement last year of Justice Anthony M. Kennedy, who wrote the majority opinions in all four of the court’s major decisions protecting gay men and lesbians, including the 2015 ruling that established a constitutional right to same-sex marriage. | The court has not heard a gay rights case since the retirement last year of Justice Anthony M. Kennedy, who wrote the majority opinions in all four of the court’s major decisions protecting gay men and lesbians, including the 2015 ruling that established a constitutional right to same-sex marriage. |
| Employment discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity is legal in most of the nation. The justices will decide whether Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which bars discrimination based on sex, also covers bias against gay and transgender people. If they rule that it does, such protections would be available nationwide. | Employment discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity is legal in most of the nation. The justices will decide whether Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which bars discrimination based on sex, also covers bias against gay and transgender people. If they rule that it does, such protections would be available nationwide. |
| Most federal appeals courts have interpreted Title VII to exclude discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people. But two of them, in New York and Chicago, recently issued decisions ruling that discrimination against gay men and lesbians is a form of sex discrimination. | Most federal appeals courts have interpreted Title VII to exclude discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people. But two of them, in New York and Chicago, recently issued decisions ruling that discrimination against gay men and lesbians is a form of sex discrimination. |
| The Supreme Court is considering three cases on Tuesday in two hourlong arguments, one on a pair of lawsuits from gay men who say they were fired because of their sexual orientation and the second on a suit from a transgender woman who said her employer fired her when she announced that she would embrace her gender identity at work. | The Supreme Court is considering three cases on Tuesday in two hourlong arguments, one on a pair of lawsuits from gay men who say they were fired because of their sexual orientation and the second on a suit from a transgender woman who said her employer fired her when she announced that she would embrace her gender identity at work. |
| The cases concerning gay rights are Bostock v. Clayton County, Ga., No. 17-1618, and Altitude Express Inc. v. Zarda, No. 17-1623. The first was brought by Gerald Bostock, a child welfare services coordinator in Georgia who said he was fired after joining a gay recreational softball league. The United States Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit, in Atlanta, ruled against him in a short, unsigned opinion that cited a 1979 decision that had ruled that “discharge for homosexuality is not prohibited by Title VII.” | The cases concerning gay rights are Bostock v. Clayton County, Ga., No. 17-1618, and Altitude Express Inc. v. Zarda, No. 17-1623. The first was brought by Gerald Bostock, a child welfare services coordinator in Georgia who said he was fired after joining a gay recreational softball league. The United States Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit, in Atlanta, ruled against him in a short, unsigned opinion that cited a 1979 decision that had ruled that “discharge for homosexuality is not prohibited by Title VII.” |
| The Second Circuit, in New York, came to the opposite conclusion in a case brought by Donald Zarda, a skydiving instructor who said he was fired because he was gay. His dismissal followed a complaint from a female customer who had expressed concerns about being tightly strapped to Mr. Zarda during a tandem dive. Mr. Zarda, hoping to reassure the customer, told her that he was “100 percent gay.” | The Second Circuit, in New York, came to the opposite conclusion in a case brought by Donald Zarda, a skydiving instructor who said he was fired because he was gay. His dismissal followed a complaint from a female customer who had expressed concerns about being tightly strapped to Mr. Zarda during a tandem dive. Mr. Zarda, hoping to reassure the customer, told her that he was “100 percent gay.” |
| Mr. Zarda died in a 2014 skydiving accident, and his estate pursued his case. A divided 13-judge panel of the Second Circuit allowed the lawsuit to proceed. Writing for the majority, Chief Judge Robert A. Katzmann concluded that “sexual orientation discrimination is motivated, at least in part, by sex and is thus a subset of sex discrimination.” | Mr. Zarda died in a 2014 skydiving accident, and his estate pursued his case. A divided 13-judge panel of the Second Circuit allowed the lawsuit to proceed. Writing for the majority, Chief Judge Robert A. Katzmann concluded that “sexual orientation discrimination is motivated, at least in part, by sex and is thus a subset of sex discrimination.” |
| The second argument on Tuesday concerns the separate question of whether Title VII bars discrimination against transgender people. The case, R.G. & G.R. Harris Funeral Homes v. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, No. 18-107, involves Aimee Stephens, who was fired from a Michigan funeral home after she announced in 2013 that she was a transgender woman and would start working in women’s clothing. | The second argument on Tuesday concerns the separate question of whether Title VII bars discrimination against transgender people. The case, R.G. & G.R. Harris Funeral Homes v. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, No. 18-107, involves Aimee Stephens, who was fired from a Michigan funeral home after she announced in 2013 that she was a transgender woman and would start working in women’s clothing. |
| “What I must tell you is very difficult for me and is taking all the courage I can muster,” she wrote to her colleagues. “I have felt imprisoned in a body that does not match my mind, and this has caused me great despair and loneliness.” | “What I must tell you is very difficult for me and is taking all the courage I can muster,” she wrote to her colleagues. “I have felt imprisoned in a body that does not match my mind, and this has caused me great despair and loneliness.” |
| Ms. Stephens had worked at the funeral home for six years. Her colleagues testified that she was able and compassionate. | Ms. Stephens had worked at the funeral home for six years. Her colleagues testified that she was able and compassionate. |
| Two weeks after receiving the letter, the home’s owner, Thomas Rost, fired Ms. Stephens. Asked for the “specific reason that you terminated Stephens,” Mr. Rost said: “Well, because he was no longer going to represent himself as a man. He wanted to dress as a woman.” | Two weeks after receiving the letter, the home’s owner, Thomas Rost, fired Ms. Stephens. Asked for the “specific reason that you terminated Stephens,” Mr. Rost said: “Well, because he was no longer going to represent himself as a man. He wanted to dress as a woman.” |
| The United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, in Cincinnati, ruled for Ms. Stephens. Discrimination against transgender people, the court said, was barred by Title VII. | The United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, in Cincinnati, ruled for Ms. Stephens. Discrimination against transgender people, the court said, was barred by Title VII. |
| “It is analytically impossible to fire an employee based on that employee’s status as a transgender person without being motivated, at least in part, by the employee’s sex,” the court said, adding, “Discrimination ‘because of sex’ inherently includes discrimination against employees because of a change in their sex.” | “It is analytically impossible to fire an employee based on that employee’s status as a transgender person without being motivated, at least in part, by the employee’s sex,” the court said, adding, “Discrimination ‘because of sex’ inherently includes discrimination against employees because of a change in their sex.” |
| All three cases will turn on how the justices interpret the 1964 civil rights law. There is little dispute that the lawmakers who enacted it did not specifically contemplate that it would apply to gay and transgender people. But the words they chose, the plaintiffs say, logically cover L.G.B.T. people. | All three cases will turn on how the justices interpret the 1964 civil rights law. There is little dispute that the lawmakers who enacted it did not specifically contemplate that it would apply to gay and transgender people. But the words they chose, the plaintiffs say, logically cover L.G.B.T. people. |
| There is a second issue in the cases. In 1989, the Supreme Court said discrimination against workers because they did not conform to gender stereotypes was a form of sex discrimination. Lawyers for the plaintiffs say that discrimination against gay and transgender people relies on such stereotypes. | There is a second issue in the cases. In 1989, the Supreme Court said discrimination against workers because they did not conform to gender stereotypes was a form of sex discrimination. Lawyers for the plaintiffs say that discrimination against gay and transgender people relies on such stereotypes. |
| The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has said that Title VII protects gay and transgender people, but the Trump administration took a contrary view in the Supreme Court. Sex discrimination, lawyers for the administration said, applies only to biological sex. | The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has said that Title VII protects gay and transgender people, but the Trump administration took a contrary view in the Supreme Court. Sex discrimination, lawyers for the administration said, applies only to biological sex. |