Sexual Orientation Archives - Kollman & Saucier P.A.

Virginia Supreme Court Rules in Favor of Teacher Who Was Fired Over Pronouns

Vincent Jackson

12/26/2023

Employment Discrimination, First Amendment Protections, Gender Identity, Religious Discrimination, Sexual Orientation, Virginia Employment Law

The Virginia Supreme Court recently issued an opinion in favor of a public school teacher who was terminated after refusing to use the preferred pronouns of a transgendered student. The case provides an interesting study into the continuing conflicts between LBGTQ rights under federal law and a renewed push for religious freedom. The plaintiff was a French teacher who had worked at the school for six years. Near the end of the 2017-18 school...

Kollman & Saucier

08/03/2023

Employment Discrimination, Hostile Work Environment, Sex Discrimination, Sexual Harassment, Sexual Orientation

To prevail on a hostile work environment claim under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, a plaintiff must typically show that there is unwelcome conduct that is based on the plaintiff’s protected characteristic, which is sufficiently severe or pervasive to alter the plaintiff’s conditions of employment, and that the employment action is imputable to the employer. When considering whether there is a hostile work environment, courts look...

Vincent Jackson

05/18/2023

Gender Identity, Hostile Work Environment, Religious Discrimination, Sexual Orientation

A recent case from the Second Circuit illustrates the growing tension between religious discrimination claims and protection of LGBTQ rights under Title VII. In Zdunski v. Erie 2-Chautauqua-Cattaraugus BOCES, the Second Circuit affirmed a lower court’s decision granting summary judgment against an employee who alleged that, by being forced to attend mandatory LGBTQ anti-discrimination trainings, he was subject to religious discrimination. The...

Kollman & Saucier

10/05/2022

Agency Activity, EEOC, Sexual Orientation

A Texas federal court judge just ruled that the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission's (EEOC) June 2021 Guidance that permits exceptions for LGBT employees from certain policies on bathrooms, dress codes and locker rooms was unlawful. In Texas v. EEOC, et al., 2:21-CV-194-Z (N.D. Tex. Oct. 1, 2022), District Court Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk, a Trump appointee, found that the EEOC's Guidance had improperly interpreted the scope of the Supreme...

Vincent Jackson

07/22/2022

Agency Activity, Sexual Orientation

A federal judge in Tennessee took the rare step of issuing a preliminary injunction to block the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission from issuing guidance regarding employment discrimination based upon sexual orientation or gender identity. The case stems from the EEOC’s attempt to implement the Supreme Court’s landmark 2020 ruling in Bostock v. Clayton County, which held that Title VII’s ban on sex discrimination applied to...

Kollman & Saucier

04/24/2019

Sexual Orientation, Supreme Court Decisions

On April 22, 2019, the Supreme Court granted certiorariin three cases relating to Title VII’s coverage (or noncoverage) of workplace discrimination based on sexual orientation and/or transgender status. Those cases are Bostock v. Clayton County, GA(No. 17-1618), Altitude Express, Inc. v. Zarda(No. 17-1623), and R.G. & G.R. Harris Funeral Homes v. EEOC (No. 18-107). The Court consolidated Bostockand Zarda, which both concern whether...

Kollman & Saucier

01/09/2019

Sexual Orientation

On January 11, 2019, the Supreme Court will consider whether to take any one of three cases that may clarify whether Title VII’s prohibition on discrimination based on sex includes discrimination against LGBT applicants and employees. At the same time, a heterosexual woman in Louisiana is trying to convince a federal appeals court that she was discriminated against because of her heterosexual orientation when she was fired by a gay supervisor,...

Kollman & Saucier

07/26/2018

Sexual Orientation

On May 10, 2018, a three-judge panel on the Eleventh Circuit (which covers Alabama, Florida, and Georgia) affirmed dismissal of an employment discrimination lawsuit under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Bostock v. Clayton Cnty. Bd. of Comm’rs, No. 17-13801 (11th Cir. May 10, 2018). The panel concluded that, under Eleventh Circuit precedent, Title VII does not prohibit discrimination based on an employee’s sexual orientation. Id....

Kollman & Saucier

06/06/2018

Employment Discrimination, Same-Sex Marriage, Sexual Orientation, Supreme Court Decisions

Both sides of the political divide had been eagerly awaiting the decision in Masterpiece Cakeshop, Ltd. v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission. The Supreme Court’s decision, however, largely left the central issue of the case unresolved. This case involves a Colorado baker who refused to bake a wedding cake for a same-sex couple in 2012 because doing so would have gone against his religious beliefs. At the time he made this decision, Colorado’s...

Darrell VanDeusen

03/09/2018

Employment Discrimination, Sexual Orientation

Amiee Stephens worked for a funeral home when she was known as Anthony Stephens. The funeral home is a closely held corporation, owned by a devout Christian. The funeral home itself, however, is not affiliated with a church and does not claim to have a religious purpose in its articles of incorporation. It is open every day, including Christian holidays, and it serves clients of all faiths. The short factual summary: when Stephens told the...

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Virginia Supreme Court Rules in Favor of Teacher Who Was Fired Over Pronouns

Former McDonald’s Employee’s Harassment Claim Fails

Second Circuit Turns Down Employee’s Claim of Wrongful Termination for Refusal to Attend LGBTQ Bias Training Session

EEOC's LGBT Bathroom/Dress Code/Locker Room Guidance Gets Nixed By Another Federal Court Judge

Federal Judge Halts EEOC Guidance on Protections for LGBTQ Employees

Supreme Court Grants Certiorari On LGBT Discrimination Issues

Fifth Circuit To Consider Claim Of “Reverse” Sexual Orientation Bias

11th Circuit Judge Criticizes Colleagues’ Response To Sexual Orientation Under Title VII

Supreme Court Dodges Sticky Issues in Same-Sex Wedding Cake Case

Oh God: Sixth Circuit Reverses Funeral Home Win Over Transgender Employee

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Category: Sexual Orientation

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