Sex Discrimination

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 protects against various forms of discrimination including sex, religion, gender and national origin.  Whether it protects against sexual orientation discrimination is unsettled, with differing appellate court decisions.  In an advisory opinion the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has argued that sexual discrimination extends to and includes sexual…

In a recent landmark case, the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals determined that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits transgender workplace discrimination. The court also determined that employers may not use the Religious Freedom Act as an excuse or justification to discriminate against workers. In the case, EEOC v. v. R.G.…

On Monday, a second federal court of appeals determined that sex discrimination prohibited by Title VII of the Civil Rights of 1964 extends to and includes sexual orientation discrimination. The New York federal appeal court determined that “sexual orientation” discrimination is a subset of sex discrimination. This means that employers are prohibited from taking one’s…

A new report published by Pew Research determined that 3 out of 4 women in computer related jobs reported experiencing discrimination at work, compared to 16% of men. The types of discriminatory actions varied, with roughly one-third of participants reporting that they earned less than a man doing the same job, while others indicated that…

In a recent employment law decision, a federal district court found in favor of a woman’s claim that she had experienced discrimination while breast-feeding.  In this instance, the woman expressed breast milk in a shared office.  She had been instructed to use the designated “lactation room”, however her job duties as a clinical bed manager in…

Whether sex discrimination prohibited by Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 extends to and protects against discrimination based on sexual orientation will likely be considered by the Supreme Court in the near future. Pursuant to Title VII, employers are prohibited from taking sex/gender into consideration in work-related decisions such as the hiring,…

Despite efforts to educate employers about sex discrimination, and eliminate it from our workplaces, many subtle (and not so subtle) forms of discrimination still occur. A recent survey polled woman about discriminatory actions they encountered at work. In addition to sexually harassing and discriminatory actions, other subtler biases existed such as not being invited to…

In a victory for those fighting against employment discrimination, on April 4th the Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit held that sex discrimination prohibited by Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 includes discrimination based on sexual orientation. The 7th Circuit is the first federal appellate court to make this determination. Initially, the…