Current Events > Justice Department arguing civil rights law doesn't protect LGBT people

(+) Yeah! (+)

https://www.buzzfeed.com/dominicholden/the-justice-department-just-argued-against-gay-rights-in-a

The US Justice Department on Wednesday argued in a major federal lawsuit that a 1964 civil rights law doesn’t protect gay workers from discrimination, thereby diverging from a separate, autonomous federal agency that had supported the gay plaintiff’s case.

The Trump administration’s filing is unusual in part because the Justice Department isn’t a party in the case, and the department doesn’t typically weigh in on private employment lawsuits.

But in an amicus brief filed at the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, lawyers under Attorney General Jeff Sessions contend that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which bans sex discrimination, does not cover sexual orientation.

"The sole question here is whether, as a matter of law, Title VII reaches sexual orientation discrimination," says the Justice Department's brief. "It does not, as has been settled for decades. Any efforts to amend Title VII’s scope should be directed to Congress rather than the courts."

The Justice Department also contends that Title VII only applies if men and women are treated unequally.

"The essential element of sex discrimination under Title VII is that employees of one sex must be treated worse than similarly situated employees of the other sex, and sexual orientation discrimination simply does not have that effect," the brief says.

The case kicked off in 2010 when Donald Zarda, a skydiving instructor, filed suit against his employer in federal court in New York, alleging the company terminated him for his sexual orientation in violation of Title VII.

After a lower court ruled and the case was appealed, the 2nd Circuit invited outside parties to weigh in. Zarda v. Altitude Express is now before before a full panel of judges at the court.

Among Zarda’s boosters is the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, a largely autonomous federal agency that handles civil rights disputes in the workplace, which supported Zarda last month in its own court filing.

For several years, the EEOC has declared in federal court that Title VII bans anti-gay discrimination, saying it is based on sex stereotyping, and therefor discrimination on the basis of sex.

But the Justice Department argues in its latest brief, "the EEOC is not speaking for the United States and its position about the scope of Title VII is entitled to no deference beyond its power to persuade."

The scope of Title VII has been disputed for years.

Under Obama, the government argued Title VII's ban on sex discrimination also included gender identity — thereby barring discrimination against transgender workers. But the Obama administration never went as far to say the civil rights law also covered sexual orientation. It had in fact opposed the argument, claiming that its hands were tied by prior court precedent. Yet in 2016, the Obama administration arguably dialed back its opposition by not trying to dismiss a case brought on those grounds.

If Zarda’s argument were to prevail — despite his death in base-jumping accident in 2014 — it would set new precedent in the circuit by overturning two cases from the 2000s.

Further, it would give momentum to the argument as a general matter, given that the 7th Circuit ruled in favor of lesbian in April who made the same claim.

Under Sessions, the Justice Departments pushed back against the EEOC's view and that court decision. "The theories advanced by the EEOC and the Seventh Circuit lack merit," the brief on Wednesday said.

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Antifar posted...

https://www.buzzfeed

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But remember: "both parties are the same".
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But Trump is totally a friend to the LGBT guys!
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Good. Read the article. It's in favor of laws passed by Congress, not judicial decree.

Damn_Underscore posted...

Antifar posted...

https://www.buzzfeed

Here's Bloomberg

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-07-27/trump-targets-legal-effort-to-protect-lgbt-workers-from-bias

President Donald Trump’s administration put itself at odds with some of the country’s biggest companies by attacking a legal effort by civil rights groups that are seeking to ban workplace discrimination against gays and lesbians in the U.S.

The Justice Department urged the federal appeals court in Manhattan on Wednesday to reject a lawsuit by a former skydiving instructor, who claims he was fired for being gay. Federal law against gender bias shouldn’t apply to LGBT workers, the Justice Department said, in a case that may have far-reaching impact if it reaches the U.S. Supreme Court.

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Don't worry soon we'll take enough steps backwards it'll be like the good ol days.
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apocalyptic_4 posted...

Don't worry soon we'll take enough steps backwards it'll be like the good ol days.

That's what many of Trump's supporters want: a return to the 50s.
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I need to get out of this fucking country lmao
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JustMyOpinion posted...

Damn_Underscore posted...

Antifar posted...

https://www.buzzfeed

Nice shitpost, kid.

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