Wide-Ranging LGBT Equality Bill Introduced in Congress for the First Time

The Equality Act, introduced by Senator Jeff Merkley of Oregon and Representative David Cicilline of Rhode Island on July 23, 2015, is the first truly comprehensive federal measure attempting to provide legal equality for LGBT people in the United States.  It goes far beyond all prior bills on this topic, because none of the bills introduced in Congress included gender identity until relatively recently and the main federal bills of recent vintage have been narrowly … <Read More>


Federal Magistrate Refuses to Dismiss Gay Pilot’s Title VII Sex Discrimination Claim

U.S. Magistrate Judge Michael E. Hegarty refused to dismiss a claim by a gay airline pilot that his former employer discriminated against him in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 by misrepresenting the reason for his discharge, thus making him virtually “unemployable” in the industry.  Judge Hegarty’s May 11 ruling in Deneffe v. Skywest, Inc., 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 62019, 2015 WL 2265373 (D. Colo.), appears to mark a further … <Read More>


Magistrate Denies HIV-Positive Gay Discrimination Plaintiff’s Request to Sue Anonymously

U.S. Magistrate Judge Joseph C. Wilkinson, Jr., has denied a request by a gay HIV-positive man to have his identity shielded from public exposure in the discrimination lawsuit he has filed against his former employer in the federal district court in New Orleans, Louisiana.

According to Wilkinson’s September 5 ruling on a motion filed by the plaintiff simultaneously with his discrimination complaint, the plaintiff is claiming violations of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act … <Read More>


Oregon Federal Court Refuses to Dismiss Title VII Retaliation Claim by Lesbian Employee

U.S. District Judge Michael McShane ruled on August 21 that a lesbian former employee could sue a hospital under Title VII of the federal Civil Rights Act for 1964 for retaliatory discharge, even though the complaints she claims to have made before her discharge concerned sexual orientation discrimination.  Bennefield v. Mid-Valley Healthcare, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 116554 (D. Or.).  Title VII outlaws discrimination because of sex, but federal courts have generally held that this … <Read More>


India’s Highest Court Declares Equal Rights for Members of India’s Transgender Community

In a historic decision, a two-judge bench of the Supreme Court of India, ruling on a petition brought by the National Legal Services Authority on behalf of members of the transgender community, has declared that among the human rights protected by the Indian Constitution are the rights of individuals to State recognition of their gender identity and sexual orientation, and to be free of official discrimination on these grounds. The original petitioner was joined by … <Read More>


$1.6 Million Damage Award Upheld in New York City Human Rights Religion/Sexual Orientation Case

The N.Y. Appellate Division, 1st Department, in Manhattan upheld an award of $1.6 million damages on a jury verdict rendered under the New York City Human Rights Law to Mirella Salemi, on her discrimination claim against Gloria’s Tribeca, Inc. and its owner, Edward Globokar. Salemi v. Gloria’s Tribeca Inc., 2014 WL 1057328, 2015 N.Y. Slip Op. 01838 (March 20, 2014).

Salemi, identified in various media sources but not in the court’s opinion as a lesbian, … <Read More>


Mohawk-Sporting Flight Attendant Loses Discrimination Suit Upon Court’s Reconsideration

We previously commented about a December 3, 2013, decision by U.S. District Judge Jose L. Linares, refusing to dismiss an employment discrimination claim by gay Continental flight attendant Ray Falcon, who showed up for work one day sporting what his supervisors called a “Mohawk” haircut that they found unacceptable. In order to meet his flight, Falcon got a co-worker to give him a quick clipping, and he claims to have suffered severe emotional distress as … <Read More>


9th Circuit Holds Sexual Orientation Requires Heightened Scrutiny in Gay Juror Case

A unanimous three-judge panel of the San Francisco-based 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled today in Smithkline Beecham Corp. v. Abbott Laboratories that a new trial has to be held because Abbott, the defendant in a civil suit involving claims about the pricing of HIV medications, used one of its “peremptory challenges” to exclude a gay man from the jury. The court found that excluding people from a jury because they are gay violates the … <Read More>


Oklahoma Federal District Court Declares Anti-Gay Marriage Amendment Unconstitutional

Yet another federal district judge has declared a state constitutional amendment that bans same-sex marriages an unconstitutional infringement of rights under the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. On January 14, Senior U.S. District Judge Terence C. Kern, who has been dealing with the case of Bishop v. United States since 2004, held that the constitutional amendment adopted by an overwhelming vote of Oklahoma citizens that year, fails to meeting the deferential “rationality review” test … <Read More>


UK Supreme Court Rejects Appeal by Christian Hotel Keeper Who Denied Lodging to Same-Sex Civil Partners

The Supreme Court of the United Kingdom ruled today that a lower court, with the support of the U.K. Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC), correctly found that Mr. and Mrs. Bull, operators of a hotel, had violated UK non-discrimination law by refusing to honor a reservation for a room with a double bed made by a gay couple who are registered as civil partners, the UK equivalent status to marriage for same-sex partners now … <Read More>