The Biden Administration’s Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) proposed new regulations on July 25 to replace the Trump Administration’s regulations issued in 2020 under the anti-discrimination provision of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), Section 1557. The proposed regulations will not become effective until after a public comment period and subsequent possible revisions in light of the comments received, as required under the Administrative Procedure Act (APA). The proposed regulations build upon regulations adopted … <Read More>
Legal Issues
Trump Alumni Group Engineers Challenge to Bostock Application Outside of Title VII
Shortly after the end of Donald Trump’s Administration, a group of his top officials formed a new organization intended to challenge attempts by the Biden Administration to change Trump’s policies. With Stephen Miller, White House counselor and the evil genius behind many of Trump’s policies, as its president and board chair, America First Legal Foundation boasts as board members former Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, former Acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker, and former Director of … <Read More>
Plaintiffs Win Summary Judgment Against Former Rowan County (Kentucky) Clerk Kim Davis in Marriage License Case
On March 18 U.S. District Court Judge David Bunning ruled that Kim Davis, who was the Rowan County (Kentucky) Clerk in 2015 when the Supreme Court ruled that same-sex couples had a right to marry, see Obergefell v. Hodges, 576 U.S. 644, had violated the plaintiff same-sex couples’ constitutional rights by refusing to issue them marriage licenses. Ermold v. Davis, 2022 WL 830606, 2022 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 48411 (E.D. Ky.).
Two of … <Read More>
Indiana Court of Appeals Divides Three Ways on Gender Marker Change for Transgender Teen
In Matter of A.B., 164 N.E.3d 167 (Ind. Ct. App. 2021), decided earlier this year, a divided panel of the Indiana Court of Appeals ruled that a parent’s petition to change the name and gender marker of their transgender minor child could be approved, despite the lack of explicit statutory authority, if the court determined that the change was in the best interest of the child, with Judge Rudolph R. Pyle, III, dissenting on … <Read More>
Federal Court Rules That Charlotte (N.C.) Catholic High School Violated Title VII by Discharging Gay Substitute Teacher
In 2014, after federal courts ruled that North Carolina had to allow same-sex couples to marry, Lonnie Billard and his long-time partner Richard Donham decided to marry and Billard posted an exuberant announcement on his Facebook page for his friends only. He ended that announcement by stating, “If you don’t agree with this. . . keep it to yourself. You never asked my opinion about your personal life and I am not asking yours.”
Among … <Read More>
District Court Rejects Constitutional Challenge to Washington State’s Conversion Therapy Ban
Senior U.S. District Judge Robert J. Bryan has dismissed constitutional challenges to Washington State’s Conversion Therapy ban (codified in Wash. Rev. Code Sections 18.130.20 and 18.130.180) brought by Brian Tingley, a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, who asserted a violation of his free speech and free exercise of religion rights, as well as alleging a violation of due process. Tingley v. Ferguson, 2021 WL 3861657, 2021 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 164063 (W.D. Wash., Aug. 30, … <Read More>
Virginia Supreme Court Panel Orders Reinstatement of Gym Teacher Suspended for Publicly Opposing School District’s Proposed Policy on Transgender Students
On August 30 a three-judge panel of the Virginia Supreme Court upheld a trial court’s order that Loudoun County School Board must reinstate Leesburg Elementary School gym teacher Tanner Cross, who was placed on paid leave after he spoke out at a School Board meeting against a proposed policy that would require teachers not to misgender transgender students. Loudoun County School Board v. Cross, Record No. 210584, Circuit Court No. CL21003254-00. The Court agreed … <Read More>
Church Loses Battle with Amazon Over Exclusion from AmazonSmile Program
The AmazonSmile Foundation, a tax-exempt corporation affiliated with Amazon.com, declined an application by Coral Ridge Ministries Media, a Christian ministry and media corporation, to participate in the AmazonSmile program, because the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) listed Coral Ridge as a “hate group” on its website, due to Coral Ridge’s expressed views about homosexuality. Under the Amazon Smile program, Amazon customers designate charities from a list approved by the Foundation to receive a donation from … <Read More>
Federal District Judge Issues Injunction Against Tennessee Bathroom Warning-Sign Law
In May, Tennessee enacted a law intended to require operators of facilities with public restrooms who allow transgender people to use restrooms consistent with their gender identity to post a vividly colored large notice at the entrance to the restroom warning people about that policy. The law went into effect on July 1. On July 9, U.S. District Judge Aleta Trauger issued a preliminary injunction banning its enforcement while a lawsuit challenges its constitutionality in … <Read More>
Music Director Barred from Suing Catholic Church For Hostile Environment Harassment Under Anti-Discrimination Laws
A ten-judge bench of the Chicago-based U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit ruled on July 9 by a vote of 7-3 that the religion clauses of the 1st Amendment of the U.S. Constitution give churches total immunity from hostile environment claims by their ministerial employees. Demkovich v. St. Andrew the Apostle Parish, 2021 U.S. App. LEXIS 20410, 2021 WL 2880232 (7th Cir. en banc).
Rejecting a decision by a three-judge … <Read More>