VALPARAISO, Ind. — The same law that guards against workplace discrimination based on religion, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, was interpreted April 4 by a U.S. appeals court to protect against bias based on sexual orientation.
In an 8–3 decision the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit used Title VII’s provision protecting against sex discrimination to rule in favor of a woman who said she was denied full-time employment and eventually fired from a community college because she lives as a lesbian.
“We conclude today that discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation is a form of sex discrimination,” chief judge Diane P. Wood wrote in the majority opinion posted on the court’s website. “We therefore reverse the district court’s judgment dismissing Kimberly Hively’s suit against Ivy Tech Community College and remand for further proceedings.”
The Seventh Circuit is the highest court to interpret Title VII to include LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) employees, the decision indicates.
Hively’s case began when she filed a charge in December 2013 with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, alleging Ivy Tech Community College in Valparaiso, Indiana, denied her full-time employment six times between 2009 and 2014 because of her sexual orientation. In July 2014 the college refused to renew her contract for part-time employment.
Jeff Fanter, Ivy Tech’s senior vice president for student experience and communications/marketing, said, “The College denies that it discriminated against the plaintiff on the basis of her sex or sexual orientation and will defend the plaintiff’s claims on the merits in the trial court.” (BP)
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