Supreme Court's 'because of sex' ruling applied to transgender case

This past June, the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Bostock v. Clayton County expanded the protections of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (which prohibits an employer from discriminating against an employee or applicant "because of . . . sex") to include protection from employment discrimination based on an individual's sexual orientation or gender identity. The momentous holding fundamentally changed Title VII jurisprudence, and it didn't take long for courts to apply the Bostock holding to other areas of the law, including Title IX.

Transgender student successfully sues school board

Gavin Grimm, a transgender student who was assigned female at birth but identifies as male, sued the Gloucester County (Virginia) School Board in 2015 based, in part, on a bathroom policy the board enacted. The policy required students to use the bathroom that corresponded with their biological gender (i.e., their birth-assigned gender) and provided that "students with gender identity issues shall be provided an alternative appropriate private facility."

Grimm challenged the policy on the grounds that it discriminated against him in violation of Title IX and the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. After a lengthy procedural history, a three-judge panel in the U.S. 4th Circuit Court of Appeals held in his favor on August 26, 2020.