U.S. Supreme Court declares Title VII prohibits LGBTQ employment discrimination

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits an employer from discriminating against an employee or applicant “because of . . . sex.” There has been a decades-long debate in courtrooms and corporate offices across the country over whether this prohibition encompasses discrimination based on a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity. In Bostock v. Clayton County, the U.S. Supreme Court put the debate to rest and held it is a violation of Title VII for an employer to discriminate against a person based on sexual orientation or gender identity.

Facts

In Bostock, the Court addressed three incidents involving separate employers. In the first incident, a county in Georgia fired an employee for having participated in a gay recreational softball league. In the second incident, a skydiving company fired an instructor days after learning the instructor was gay. In the third incident, a funeral home hired an employee who presented as a male at the time of hiring. After six years of employment, the employee notified the employer she would be living and working full-time as a woman. The employer terminated her employment, stating, “This is not going to work out.”