In August of this year, the Equal Opportunity Employment Commission succeeded on a Title VII claim on behalf of an employee who was discriminated against due to sexual orientation. We wrote about that opinion in a previous blog post. Last month, they achieved a similar victory in Pennsylvania, marking the latest in a recent trend of federal courts across the nation recognizing that LGBT employees are subject to all of Title VII's protections.
Same Sex Marriage Legal in all 50 States
As we predicted, the Supreme Court has ruled 5-4 that same-sex marriage is legal nationwide. The Court decision is a landmark victory for equality in this country. As anticipated, Justice Kennedy's comments at oral argument were not indicative of his ultimate decision as Justice Kennedy, in fact, wrote the majority opinion for the Court. Also, as reflected in this firm's brief in the Eleventh Circuit case on this subject, the decision in Loving v. Virginia, 388 U.S. 1 (1967), was incredibly persuasive to the Court.
Oral Arguments Held in Same-Sex Marriage Case
Yesterday, the Supreme Court held oral arguments on the issue of same-sex marriage. The arguments revealed a few surprises. We are pleased that Justice Roberts pointed out that the marriage ban might be sex discrimination. Chief Justice Roberts stated that, "I mean, if Sue loves Joe and Tom loves Joe, Sue can marry him and Tom can't. And the difference is based upon their different sex. Why isn't that a straightforward question of sexual discrimination?"
