The New Mexico Supreme Court unanimously ruled on August 22 that a wedding photography business violated the New Mexico Human Rights Act by refusing service to a lesbian couple for their same-sex commitment ceremony. The court held that the photography business owners’ religious and free speech rights were not unconstitutionally violated by this result. The case is Elane Photography v. Willock.
The case arose when Vanessa Willock contacted Elane Photography LLC by email to inquire
N.Y. Supreme Court Justice Debra James has rejected a motion for summary judgment by Sears Roebuck on a claim that a gay former employee at Sears’ Auto Center in Nanuet, N.Y., was subjected to a hostile working environment in violation of New York State’s Human Rights Law, which forbids employment discrimination based on sexual orientation. However, Justice James’ June 28 decision granted Sears’ motion to reject Joseph DeVito’s retaliation claim stemming from a promotion he … <Read More>
The Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA), a bill now pending in Congress, would make it an unlawful employment practice for employers that are now covered by Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to discriminate in hiring, firing and terms and conditions of employment because of the sexual orientation or gender identity or expression of an individual. The version of the bill introduced in Congress this year uses language almost identical to that found … <Read More>
A unanimous panel of the Appellate Division of the New Jersey Superior Court ruled on April 13 that Ronald Savoie, an openly-gay teacher who had been forced to resign after more than twenty years at the Lawrenceville School, is entitled to a trial on his claims that the School violated his rights under the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination and the public policy of New Jersey. The appellate court reversed a decision by the trial … <Read More>
A New York Appellate Division panel in Manhattan, unanimously reversing a trial judge, reinstated an arbitrator’s ruling that suspended an openly-gay tenured school librarian in the New York City school system for six months without pay, after the arbitrator found that the librarian had engaged in “inappropriate touching” of students of a non-sexual nature. The appellate panel found no evidence in the record of any sexual orientation discrimination that might provide a public policy justification … <Read More>