The Chicago Tribune reports:
A federal court in Chicago on Tuesday became the first U.S. appellate court in the nation to rule that LGBT employees are protected from workplace discrimination under the 1964 Civil Rights Act.
The decision by the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals sends the case involving Kim Hively, a former Indiana community college teacher who claims she was denied promotions and let go from her job because she is a lesbian, back to a federal district court in Indiana.
"It's really good to know that it's making some headway," said Hively, who now works as a high school math teacher in Indiana. "I always thought there was a big disconnect when they legalized gay marriage but didn't extend any protections against workplace or housing discrimination. What they're doing is allowing people to lose jobs and homes just because they fell in love."
Eight judges on the Chicago appellate court agreed that workplace discrimination based on sexual orientation violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Three judges wrote dissenting opinions.
There's more:
But aggressive questions from the federal judges suggested the court might be willing to expand the 53-year-old landmark law.
Judge Richard Posner asked Maley: "Who will be hurt if gays and lesbians have a little more job protection?" When Maley said he couldn't think of anyone who would be harmed, Posner shot back, "So, what's the big deal?" Posner also said it was wrong to say a decades-old statute is "frozen" on the day it passed and that courts can never broaden its scope.
Nevins' argument that "sex" and "sexual orientation" discrimination were synonymous was rejected by the three dissenting judges, including Judge Diane S. Sykes, who wrote in her dissent that the 1964 federal statue was quite literal.
Judge Richard Posner: rewrites a law.
