skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Thursday, September 19, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Post-presidential debate poll shows a shift in WI; Teamsters won't endorse in presidential race after releasing internal polling showing most members support Trump; IL energy jobs growth is strong but lacks female workers; Pregnant, Black Coloradans twice as likely to die than the overall population.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

The Teamsters choose not to endorse a presidential candidate, county officials in Texas fight back against state moves to limit voter registration efforts, and the FBI investigate suspicious packages sent to elections offices in at least 17 states.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

A USDA report shows a widening gap in rural versus urban health, a North Carolina county remains divided over a LGBTQ library display, and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz' policies are spotlighted after his elevation to the Democratic presidential ticket.

DOJ Claims Civil Rights Law Doesn't Apply to Gay Workers

play audio
Play

Friday, July 28, 2017   

NEW YORK – The U.S. Justice Department says federal civil rights law doesn't protect lesbians and gay men from workplace discrimination.

In 2010, Donald Zarda, a skydiving instructor working on Long Island, was fired after revealing he was gay. He sued, charging a violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act.

Now, the Justice Department argues that Congress has not extended Title VII to include sexual orientation.

The brief was circulated Wednesday, a day that Greg Nevins, director of the Employment Fairness Project at Lambda Legal, says felt like a double-barreled assault on LGBT rights by the Trump administration.

"In the morning, the hideous attack on transgender service members who are living and dying for our country,” Nevins states. “And then in the evening, the attorney general's office came at us with the other barrel."

The federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has filed a brief supporting Zarda's claim, but the Justice Department says the EEOC was "not speaking for the United States."

According to Nevins, other courts have long held that the law's protections are not confined to narrow definitions of race, color, religion, sex and national origin.

"These things often have very different roots, very different social histories, but they're all prohibited to the same extent,” he stresses. “So, the fact that discrimination against one group is not rooted in believing them to be inferior doesn't mean it's not prohibited by Title VII."

Lambda Legal has successfully argued similar cases in Seattle, Chicago and Washington.

In April, a three-judge panel of the Second Circuit Court of Appeals denied Zarda's claim, but said he could have a new trial if the full Appeals Court agreed.

Nevins notes that the three judges were bound by precedent, but the full court is not.

"The mere fact that the court is willing to all get together to hear this shows that they are very, very interested in the argument that their prior precedent should be overruled," he points out.

Arguments in the case are scheduled for Sept. 26.






get more stories like this via email

more stories
Recipients of the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Grant can now access funding to drive financing for thousands of climate-focused and clean energy initiatives. (bilanol/Adobe Stock)

Environment

play sound

Michigan's most vulnerable communities are receiving federal funding to fight the devastating effects of climate change. It's part of the $27 billion …


Health and Wellness

play sound

September is Health Literacy Month, and a Denver-based group is working to help health professionals break a persistent pattern of discrimination …

Environment

play sound

A new report contends fossil fuel funding has biased Columbia University's climate research. The report, by two Columbia students, shows the …


Alabama releases roughly 220,279 men and 78,247 women from its prisons and jails each year. (Chad Robertson/Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

An Alabama woman is on a mission to help people who've been incarcerated for decades successfully transition back into society. The mission to …

Health and Wellness

play sound

In North Carolina, the gap between Medicaid reimbursement rates and the actual cost of dental care has reached a crisis point, impacting both …

So far in 2024, community health centers in North Dakota have screened 11,580 patients for food insecurity. Through those screenings, more than three thousand box meals have been distributed. (Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

September is Hunger Action Month. In North Dakota, it isn't just food banks trying to help underserved populations get nutritious items. Health …

Environment

play sound

Marine biologists conducting deep dives near five California islands are collecting data they hope will strengthen the case for ending gillnet fishing…

Environment

play sound

Researchers at Iowa State University are taking aim at the huge amount of energy used by data centers, now and in the future. They have developed a …

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021