Attorney General Racine Joins Brief to Protect LGBTQ Workers from Discrimination

In Evans v. Georgia Regional Hospital, 18 AGs Argue That Discrimination Violates Title VII 

WASHINGTON D.C. – Attorney General Karl A. Racine has joined an amicus brief filed with the U.S. Supreme Court by 18 attorneys general, arguing that employment discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation violates Title VII of the federal Civil Rights Act.

The attorneys general argue that their states have strong interests in protecting their citizens against employment discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. The lack of nationwide recognition that Title VII bars such discrimination blocks the full protection of LGBTQ workers – particularly given divisions between the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (which takes the position that Title VII protects workers from sexual orientation) and the federal Department of Justice (which has taken the opposite position).

“The District has long outlawed all forms of discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity, and LGBTQ workers need assurance that they enjoy the same protections nationwide,” Attorney General Racine said. “Discrimination is morally reprehensible and socially destructive, and we need a clear federal standard in opposition to employment discrimination of all kinds.”

The brief was filed late on Wednesday, October 11, which is also National Coming Out Day.

Click here to read the amicus brief, which was led by New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman and joined by Attorney General Racine and the attorneys general of California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawai‘i, Illinois, Iowa, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Mexico, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, and Washington state.

Even in jurisdictions that have laws barring sexual-orientation discrimination in the workplace, “Title VII plays a crucial complementary role by covering individuals not subject to the State’s laws—for instance, federal employees or residents who work in another State—and by making available both the federal courts and a federal enforcer, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), to police invidious discrimination based on sexual orientation.”

The case, Evans v. Georgia Regional Hospital, involves Jameka Evans, a security guard at a Savannah, Ga., hospital who was harassed at work and forced out of her job because she is a lesbian. Evans’ petition seeks a nationwide ruling that discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation violates Title VII.