Federal law has long prohibited discrimination based on a person’s sex. In recent years, several courts have held that discrimination based on failure to conform to a gender stereotype is a form of prohibited sex-based discrimination. But courts across the country have been more divided about whether those same laws preclude discrimination based on one’s sexual orientation. According to a federal court in Georgia, the answer is no. In a decision handed down on March 10, 2017, the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the dismissal of a former Georgia hospital worker’s claim that she was fired because of her sexual orientation. In Evans v. Georgia Regional Hospital, the court held that Title VII does not cover such claims.
To read the case, please visit the HRUSA Blog at http://blog.hrusa.com/blog/sexual-orientation-discrimination-not-recognized-under-title-vii/.