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Tuesday, October 8, 2019

Today is the day! SCOTUS args on sexual orientation and gender identity discrimination

SCOTUS is back for a new season, and oral arguments kicked off yesterday. We've got a great double feature lined up for today:

Bostock v. Clayton County, Georgia (SCOTUSblog page) and Altitude Express Inc. v. Zarda (SCOTUSblog page):
Whether discrimination against an employee because of sexual orientation constitutes prohibited employment discrimination “because of . . . sex” within the meaning of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-2.

R.G. & G.R. Harris Funeral Homes Inc. v. EEOC (SCOTUSblog page):
Whether Title VII prohibits discrimination against transgender people based on (1) their status as transgender or (2) sex stereotyping under Price Waterhouse v. Hopkins.

Asking a court that leans heavy on textualism and originalism to re-imagine a 1964 sex discrimination statute to cover sexual orientation and gender identity might be a tall order. That said, the Court has issued a string of gay rights-friendly opinions lately, ranging from Lawrence v. Texas in 2003 to Obergefell v. Hodges in 2015. So, we'll see.

Do you want my entirely useless prediction? Of course you do. Chief Justice Roberts cobbles together a compromise position that reaffirms that sex stereotyping violates Title VII, but that Title VII does not cover sexual orientation per se. The four-justice liberal bloc concurs but writes separately to note that they would hold that Title VII does cover sexual orientation per se. In Harris Funeral Home, the Court holds that Title VII covers gender identity per se.

Don't take that to Vegas.

Finally, two reminders:

  • These cases only matter because Congress has not amended Title VII to expressly cover (or not) sexual orientation or gender identity - Congress can moot these cases at any time and effectively reverse them after the fact; and
  • Many state and local laws prohibit sexual orientation and gender identity discrimination - these cases do not change that. 

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