Shapiro Arato Files Supreme Court Amicus Brief on Behalf of Businesses Supporting Application of Title VII to Discrimination Based on Sexual Orientation
On October 10, 2017, Shapiro Arato and Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP filed a brief in the United States Supreme Court on behalf of 76 businesses and organizations as amici curiae in support of the petitioner in Evans v. Georgia Regional Hospital, No. 17-370.
The question presented in Evans is whether the prohibition in Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 against employment discrimination “because of . . . sex” encompasses discrimination based on an individual’s sexual orientation. We argued in the amicus brief that laws prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation are good for employers, employees, and the U.S. economy. Furthermore, the current split in federal circuit court decisions over whether Title VII prohibits sexual orientation discrimination harms businesses and the United States economy, and the Supreme Court should grant certiorari to bring nationwide uniformity to federal law on this important question.
The 76 businesses and organizations that joined as amici support the notion that no one should be passed over for a job, paid less, fired, or subject to harassment or any other form of discrimination based on nothing more than their sexual orientation, which is inherently sex-based.
A copy of the brief, which includes a list of the 76 businesses and organizations, is available here.
On October 11, 2017, the Human Rights Campaign and Freedom for All Americans issued press releases regarding the brief. They can be found here and here.