By Jacqueline Pitts, The Bottom Line
In a major victory for LGBTQ rights, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled Monday that a landmark civil rights law barring sex discrimination in the workplace applies to gay, lesbian, and transgender workers. The decision was written by Associated Justice Neil Gorsuch, a President Trump-nominee who took his oath of office in April 2017. The landmark ruling, which will provide protection for millions of workers across the country, was decided by a 6-3 vote.
“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,” Gorsuch wrote.
The ruling came from three separate cases in Georgia, New York, and Michigan, involving two gay men and one transgender woman. Heard in October of 2019, these are some of the most significant cases the Supreme Court is expected to hear this term.
“America is a country that provides equal opportunity employment for all its citizens,” said Kentucky Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Ashli Watts. “I am pleased to see the U.S. Supreme Court reinforce that sentiment with today’s ruling.”
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