Judge Robert L. Miller, a Reagan appointee who sits on the federal district court for the Northern District of Indiana, has recently issued yet another curious decision in the case of Creed v. Family Express Corp. Amber Creed was fired from her job in 2005 because she is transgender. Judge Miller's first decision, in 2007, which I will call Creed I, was very curious indeed, creating a considerable amount of confusion about what precisely is protected under the federal employment discrimination law, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. His second decision, which came out a few weeks ago (Creed II, 2009 WL 35237) is even more hopelessly befuddled. Curiouser and curiouser!, cried Alice. These decisions are a case study of why the proposed federal Employment Non-Discrimination Act should include protection for both sexual orientation and gender identity, for it demonstrates that the current federal law of employment discrimination is a patchwork welter that creates confusion for both employees and employers.
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