DOJ Says Workers Can Be Fired For Being Gay

In an amicus brief filed Aug. 23, the Trump administration argued that it is legal to fire workers based only on their sexual orientation. The brief, which concerns what is meant by Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, was filed in respect to one of two gay rights cases currently before the Supreme Court, Bostock v. Clayton County, Georgia, in which the plaintiff claims he was fired for being gay. His case was dismissed by lower courts. It is consolidated with one filed by Donald Zarda, who sued his employer, Altitude Express, alleging the company terminated him for being gay. The plaintiff prevailed at the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals. The administration argued courts should stop reading the civil rights law to protect gay, lesbian, and bisexual workers from bias because it was not originally intended to do so. That conflicts with some rulings that found targeting for sexual orientation is an illegal form of both sex discrimination and sex stereotyping under Title VII. The administration said in its brief that Title VII’s ban on sex discrimination only prohibits unequal treatment between “biological sexes.” In a related brief, the Justice Department said companies should be able to fire people because they are transgender as well. A Supreme Court ruling limiting the scope of Title VII would likely reach far beyond employment to other settings where sex discrimination is banned, including public schools.