EEOC Sues Rent-A-Center for Sex Discrimination Against Transgender Employee

Assistant Manager of Rantoul Store Was Fired Because of Her Gender Identity, Federal Agency Charges

URBANA, Ill. - Rent-A-Center violated federal civil rights law by discharging an employee from its Rantoul, Ill., store because she is transgender, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) charged in a lawsuit announced today. Rent-A-Center owns and operates more than 3,000 stores across the United States, offering furniture, electronics, appliances and computers through rent-to-own agreements.

According to Julianne Bowman, the EEOC's district director in Chicago, the EEOC's pre-suit administrative investigation revealed that the company's managers disapproved of the employee's gender transition and found a pretext for firing her.

Read more here.

EEOC Sues Bojangles For Sex Harassment and Retaliation

Restaurant Chain Subjected Transgender Employee to Sex Harassment, Then Fired Her for Complaining, Federal Agency Charges

FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. - Bojangles Restaurants, Inc., a North Carolina corporation operating a chain of fast food restaurants in the Southeast, violated federal law by subjecting a transgender employee to a hostile work environment because of her gender identity, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) charged in a lawsuit filed today. The lawsuit also alleges that Bojangles illegally fired the employee in retaliation for reporting the sexual harassment.

Read more here.

Big companies back DOJ suit against NC bathroom law

Leading airlines, hotel chains, retailers and tech companies are backing the Department of Justice in its lawsuit against North Carolina over the state’s controversial bathroom law.

American and United airlines, the Hilton and Marriott hotel chains, as well as Apple, Dropbox, eBay, IBM, Microsoft, PayPal, and Ikea, are among 68 companies signing on to a "friend of the court" brief asking a federal judge to issue an order that stops the law, known as HB2, from being enforced until a court has ruled on the discrimination case.

HB2 requires people to use the public bathroom matching their gender at birth.

Read the complete story by The Hill here.

View the brief filed by the 68 companies here.

OFCCP Updates Sex Discrimination Rule

On June 14, 2016, the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs announced publication of a Final Rule in the Federal Register that sets forth the requirements that covered contractors must meet under the provisions of Executive Order 11246 prohibiting sex discrimination in employment. This Final Rule updates sex discrimination guidelines from 1970 with new regulations that align with current law and address the realities of today’s workplaces. The Final Rule deals with a variety of sex–based barriers to equal employment and fair pay, including compensation discrimination, sexual harassment, hostile work environments, failure to provide workplace accommodations for pregnant workers, and gender identity and family caregiving discrimination.

The Final Rule becomes effective on August 15, 2016.

Read more here.

U.S. Departments of Education and Justice Release Joint Guidance to Help Schools Ensure the Civil Rights of Transgender Students

The U.S. Departments of Education and Justice released joint guidance today to help provide educators the information they need to ensure that all students, including transgender students, can attend school in an environment free from discrimination based on sex.

Read more here.

Lynch: States Can't 'Insist' a Man is a Man and a Woman is a Woman, If Person Feels Otherwise

By Susan Jones | May 10, 2016 | 6:20 AM EDT

Attorney General Loretta Lynch speaks at the Justice Department on Monday, May 9, 2016, after North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory's administration sued the federal government in defense of a state law that says people in public facilities must use the restroom that corresponds with their biological sex.

(CNSNews.com) - The U.S. Justice Department is putting the feelings of transgenders -- men who think they are women and women who think they are men -- above the privacy rights of the vast majority of people who don't contest the biological facts of who they actually are.

For a video and the story, continue reading here.

NYC Human Rights Commission Takes Expansive View of Gender ID Discrimination

Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP , Lexology

The New York City Commission on Human Rights has just released a Human Rights Legal Enforcement Guidance on Discrimination on the Basis of Gender Identity or Expression. The Guidance defines eight categories of discriminatory conduct in employment, public accommodations, and housing and provides examples of violations that, in some cases, treat as illegal decisions or behaviors that would generally be considered perfectly lawful under federal law. Accordingly, any employer or business with operations in New York City should familiarize its management employees with the strict requirements of these new Guidelines. Those employers and businesses may find it prudent to adopt NYCHRL-compliant policies on a company-wide basis.

Read the story here.

Related content:

• Understanding New York Regulations Regarding Prohibited Discrimination on the Basis of Gender Identity, Transgender Status, or Gender Dysphoria (Littler Mendelson)
• Five Suggestions to Create a Transgender-Inclusive Workplace (Foley & Lardner LLP)
• NYC Commission on Human Rights Issues Guidelines on Transgender Discrimination (Proskauer Rose LLP)

Male minister who won’t wear makeup sues for religious bias

Constangy Brooks Smith & Prophete LLP, Lexology

Boy, the Detroit area seems to be in the front lines for the gender-identity wars.

As I’ve previously reported here, here, here, and here, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has a high-profile gender-stereotyping lawsuit going on against an area funeral home chain based on its discharge of a transgender employee. The funeral home is represented by the Alliance Defending Freedom, a traditional-values public interest firm, so it is shaping up to be a real donnybrook.

Read the story here.

Related content:

•  Lawsuit: He drew the line at lipstick, fake eyelashes (Detroit Free Press)
  
  
   

Gender identity in the workplace: best practices

Hunton & Williams LLP, Lexology

On November 3, 2015, Houston voters rejected Proposition 1, a broadly-worded human rights ordinance that would have made it illegal to discriminate on the basis of, among other things, gender identity. Opposition to that ordinance coalesced around the issue of restrooms, with many citizens expressing fear that the law would allow men to use women’s restrooms.

Read the story here.

Related content:

• NYC: New Guidance On Gender Identity Employment Discrimination And Harassment (FisherBroyles)

Massachusetts legislature passes An Act Relative to Gender Identity

Lexology
Mintz Levin Cohn Ferris Glovsky and Popeo PC
Martha J. Zackin
USA
November 21 2011

On November 15, 2011, the Massachusetts House of Representatives passed An Act Relative to Gender Identity, by a vote of 115 to 37. The next day, the bill was passed in a voice vote by the Massachusetts Senate. If Governor Patrick signs it, which he is expected to do, the Transgender Act will go into effect on July 1, 2012.

Full Story: http://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=e9cbb993-e2d8-4573-828e-16ebd3d8c509&utm_source=Lexology+Daily+Newsfeed&utm_medium=HTML+email+-+Body+-+Other+states+section&utm_campaign=Lexology+subscriber+daily+feed&utm_content=Lexology+Daily+Newsfeed+2011-11-28&utm_term=

College Asks Students Their Sexual Orientation and Gender Identities

New American
Written by Jack Kenny
Sunday, 04 September 2011 13:00

Higher education is getting "Curioser and curioser!" as Alice said in Wonderland. Elmhurst College in Elmhurst, Illinois, is now asking prospective students about their sexual orientations and "gender identities," the Chicago Sun-Times reported recently. "Would you consider yourself to be a member of the LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender) community?" is now among the questions asked students applying for admission to the college in the fall of 2012. No one is required to answer the question, the school says, though a "Yes" makes the applicant eligible for a scholarship worth a third of the cost of tuition. About 60 percent of the 3.300 students at the private liberal arts college are on scholarships of one sort or another, school officials said.

Full Story: http://www.thenewamerican.com/culture/education/8853-college-asks-students-their-sexual-orientation-and-gender-identities

Transgender Issue Plays Key Role in Anti-Bias Legislation

Workforce Management

The latest version of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act is likely to include both sexual orientation and gender identity, unlike some past iterations of the federal bill. But including transgenders will make ENDA’s passage more uncertain. By James Walsh
March 2011

Gender identity has become the most controversial flashpoint in the continuing debate over national employment protections for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender workers.
The latest version of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, expected to be introduced this year, is likely to include both sexual orientation and gender identity, unlike some past iterations of the federal bill. But including transgenders will likely stir up more intense opposition and make ENDA’s passage more uncertain.

Full Story: http://www.workforce.com/archive/feature/legal/transgender-issue-plays-key-role-anti-bias-legislation/index.php