A federal judge last week granted permission for a Norristown gay man to try to convince the Third Circuit Court of Appeals that anti-LGBT workplace bias always constitutes a form of sex discrimination.
“Frank Doe” alleges he was fired as activities director at Meadowview Rehabilitation and Nursing Center in Whitemarsh last year due to anti-LGBT bias. Doe claims his civil rights were violated under the Pennsylvania Human Relations Act and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
Both laws specifically ban workplace bias on the basis of sex, but they’re silent on the issue of whether “sex” encompasses someone’s “sexual orientation.”
On Aug. 7, U.S. District Judge Thomas N. O’Neill Jr. said the civil-rights laws at issue don’t provide Doe with the anti-LGBT bias protections he seeks, thus severely hampering his case.
On Aug. 28, Doe asked O’Neill for permission to file an immediate appeal in the Third Circuit and to argue that the laws do protect Doe from anti-LGBT workplace bias.
The case recently was transferred to U.S. District Judge Anita B. Brody, who last week granted Doe’s request to file an immediate appeal in the Third Circuit.
“[A] substantial ground for difference of opinion exists,” Brody stated in a three-page order issued Sept. 27. “It would be best to resolve this issue before any litigation continues.”
A favorable appellate ruling could secure federal antibias protections for LGBT workers in the region.
The circuit’s jurisdiction covers Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware and the Virgin Islands. For more than 40 years, the circuit has held that anti-LGBT bias isn’t necessarily a form of sex discrimination banned by Title VII. Other jurisdictions across the country have taken a different stance, ruling that anti-LGBT workplace bias inherently is a form of sex discrimination and banned by Title 7.
In those jurisdictions, LGBT plaintiffs are allowed to pursue their workplace antibias claims with the full force and effect of Title 7.
Neither side had a comment for this story.
