On April 22, the U.S. Supreme Court announced that it will hear three high-profile cases involving employment discrimination against LGBT individuals, ABC News reported.
The cases involve Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which bans employment discrimination on the basis of "sex." The court will determine if federal civil-rights protections extend to include sexual orientation and gender identity.
According to a press release from Lambda Legal, the three cases include: Altitude Express v. Zarda, a New York case where the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit ruled in favor of the estate of a skydiving instructor who was fired because he was gay; and Bostock v. Clayton County, in which the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit ruled against a Clayton County, Georgia, child welfare services coordinator fired when his employer discovered he was gay.
The third case is R.G. & G.R. Harris Funeral Homes v. EEOC, a Michigan case brought by the ACLU and ACLU of Michigan where the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit ruled in favor of a transgender woman fired from her job as a funeral director when she informed her boss she intended to transition.
Lambda Legal Senior Counsel and Workplace Fairness Program Strategist Greg Nevins said in a statement, ""Title VII obviously requires equal treatment of men and women, so it was wrong to treat Donald Zarda [or Gerald Bostock] differently because of his attraction to men, when a Donna Zarda or Geraldine Bostock would not have endured discrimination for liking men. And when Aimee Stephens' employer fired her after learning that she was undertaking a gender transition, her employer discriminated against her because of sex. These arguments couldn't be more straight-forward, and we are hopeful that the Court will confirm that they are correct."
The cases will be heard during the court's fall term, which begins in October.