Supreme Court Rules LGBTQ Workers Are Protected From Job Discrimination Under Title VII

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 makes it illegal for employers to discriminate because of a person’s sex.   In a 6-3 vote, the U.S. Supreme court ruled that Title VII protections extended to sexual orientation and transgender status. The Supreme Court held, “Today, we must decide whether an employer can fire someone simply for being homosexual or transgender. The answer is clear. An employer who fires an individual for being homosexual or transgender fires that person for traits or actions it would not have questioned in members of a different sex. Sex plays a necessary and undisguisable role in the decision, exactly what Title VII forbids.” While the Court acknowledged that gender identity and sexual orientation were not originally in mind when Congress passed Title VII, based on the clear meaning of the phrase “because of sex,” the Court held termination based on gender identity or sexual orientation is prohibited. This decision in Bostock v. Clayton County overturns previous Fifth Circuit precedent, excluding gender identity and sexual orientation in the prohibition of sex discrimination under Title VII.