Sexual Orientation / LGBTQ Discrimination

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In Peckham v. Island Park Union Free School District, 2018 WL 6332441 (App. Div. 2nd Dept. Dec. 5, 2018), the Second Department reversed the lower court’s denial of defendant’s motion for summary judgment, and held that plaintiff’s complaint – alleging age and sexual orientation discrimination under the New York State Human Rights Law – should…

Read More Age, Sexual Orientation Discrimination Claims Should Have Been Dismissed as Time-Barred, Second Department Holds
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In Cargian v. Breitling USA, Inc., No. 16-3592-cv, 2018 WL 4293325 (2d Cir. Sept. 10, 2018) (Summary Order), the Second Circuit vacated and remanded a prior order granting summary judgment to defendant in plaintiff’s sexual orientation discrimination case asserted under, inter alia, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The basis for this…

Read More 2d Circuit Revives Sexual Orientation Discrimination Case Against Breitling in Light of Zarda Ruling
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In Daniel v. T&M Protection Resources LLC, 13-cv-43842018 WL 3388295 (S.D.N.Y. July 12, 2018), the court addressed what it characterized as “a threshold legal question,” namely, “whether a plaintiff may aggregate evidence of racial and sexual harassment to support a hostile work environment claim where neither charge could survive on its own.” On this issue,…

Read More Court Discusses “Aggregation” Approach to Hostile Work Environment
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Today is the 2018 NYC Pride March, which celebrates the LGBT community and commemorates the Stonewall Riots of 1969. Since last year’s March, there have been several interesting developments in the area of LGBT rights. For example, earlier this year the Second Circuit held (en banc) in Zarda v. Altitude Express that Title VII of the…

Read More NYC Pride Parade 2018
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In a 7-2 decision issued today, Masterpiece Cakeshop, Ltd. v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission (U.S. No. 16-111 June 4, 2018) (J. Kennedy), the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 7-2 in favor of a Colorado baker who refused to create a cake for a gay couple’s wedding because of his claimed religious opposition to same-sex marriage. Importantly,…

Read More SCOTUS Issues Narrow Decision in Baker’s Favor in “Gay Wedding Cake” Case
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In a recent (May 29, 2018) Petition for Writ of Certiorari, filed in Altitude Express, Inc. v. Zarda, the petitioner seeks to overturn the Second Circuit’s en banc decision holding that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964’s prohibition on discrimination based on “sex” also prohibits discrimination based on “sexual orientation.”

Read More Petition for Writ of Certiorari Asks SCOTUS to Overturn 2d Circuit En Banc Zarda Decision That Title VII Prohibits Discrimination Based on Sexual Orientation
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In Zarda v. Altitude Express, Inc. (2d Cir. 15-3775 Feb. 26, 2018) (en banc), decided today by an en banc (i.e., full) Second Circuit panel, held that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964’s prohibition on discrimination “because of … sex” extends to sexual orientation. The court’s 69-page majority opinion aligns Second Circuit law with positions…

Read More 2d Circuit Holds, En Banc, That Title VII Prohibits Discrimination Based on Sexual Orientation
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In Giove v. City of New York, 15-cv-2998, 2018 WL 736008 (E.D.N.Y. Feb. 5, 2018), the court addressed whether sexual orientation discrimination and retaliation claims brought by a teacher were barred by collateral estoppel due to a prior finding at a hearing pursuant to NY Education Law § 3020-a. Under the facts of this case, the…

Read More Sexual Orientation Discrimination & Retaliation Claims Not Barred By Adverse 3020-a Hearing Determination
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On January 10, 2018, the New York City Human Rights Law was amended with respect to its definitions of “sexual orientation” (N.Y.C. Admin. Code § 8-102(20)) and “gender” (id. § 8-102(23)) to effectively broaden those terms. The NYC Human Rights Law, inter alia, prohibits discrimination (in various forms) “because of the actual or perceived … gender [or]…

Read More Local Law Amends NYC Human Rights Law’s Definitions of “Sexual Orientation”, “Gender”
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