It’s hard to believe that after all the progress that we have made as a country toward improving individual rights, one could be legally fired based on sexual orientation or gender identity. Yet, this can, and has still happened.
Practitioners in our field have grown accustomed to seeing others’ dismay as they discover that Title VII does not bar sexual orientation discrimination, but now it has changed. On April 4, 2017, the full 7th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, in an 8-3 decision, ruled that sex discrimination extends to sexual orientation.
The repeal of House Bill 2 ends a year of high drama in The Old North State, but many challenges remain for the LGBTQ community. Gone is the most odious provision of this notorious law. The clause prohibiting anyone from using a restroom other than that which corresponds to their birth certificate is history.
By: David Donovan
When North Carolina’s lawmakers hurried HB2 through the legislature, it originally contained a provision that prohibited workers from suing their former employers under state law for cases of wrongful termination based on discrimination. That provision raised concerns from attorneys.
Law360, New York – A North Carolina federal judge concluded Friday that the state’s recent reduction of the statute of limitations for certain wrongful discharge claims, which stemmed from the now-infamous law limiting transgender individuals’ access to public facilities, can’t retroactively be used to kill a claim that would have been timely absent the change.
Law360, New York (July 5, 2016) — North Carolina lawmakers have largely left intact a controversial transgender bathroom law that blocks local governments from granting civil rights protections to LGBT individuals, but restored the ability to sue for discriminatory termination in state courts and gave workers one year to bring such claims.
On Tuesday, April 19, 2016, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals issued a landmark decision, holding for the first time that federal law prohibits public schools from denying transgender students access to bathrooms that correspond with their gender identities. The Fourth Circuit’s 2-1 decision overturned the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia’s holding that Title IX of the Education Amendments Act does not allow for students to use the restroom that aligns with their gender identity.
Law360, New York – When the Fourth Circuit ruled this week that barring a transgender male student from the boys’ bathroom in Virginia violates federal education law, it forecast a defeat over North Carolina’s already notorious discrimination law. Among its many provisions, H.B. 2 restricts transgender people’s access to public restrooms, which, if enforced in schools, experts say could cost North Carolina $4.5 billion in federal funding.
Law360, New York – A hastily enacted North Carolina law that undid a Charlotte anti-discrimination ordinance that in part allowed transgender people to use the restroom of their choice could potentially limit access to state courts for employees trying to pursue a wide range of discrimination claims, including those related to race and gender, plaintiffs attorneys say.
Last night, Governor Pat McCrory signed House Bill 2 into law, a mere 10 hours after it was first revealed to the public. In their haste to strike down Charlotte’s Non-Discrimination Ordinance, the General Assembly and Governor enacted a law that does far more than prohibit transgender and gender nonconforming Charlotteans from using public restrooms.