On September 26, 2017, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit heard oral argument in the case of Zarda v. Altitude Express, Case No. 15-3775.
At issue is whether Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964’s prohibition of discrimination “because of … sex” extends to sexual orientation.
One of the interesting aspects of this case is that two arms of the federal government have taken opposing views in so-called “amicus” (friend of the court) briefs: While the U.S. Department of Justice asserts that Title VII does not cover sexual orientation, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has advocated the opposite position.