Parker v. STRAWSER CONSTRUCTION, INC., Dist. Court, SD Ohio 2018 - Google Scholar

Tracy Parker, a former client whom I represented before the EEOC, has received a ruling in her favor from an Ohio federal court regarding her Title VII and Ohio state claims against her employer. She is a hero for all that she has endured, and her willingness to stand up for her rights in the face of persistent bullying. The court found that her claims of serious workplace harassment and termination were sufficient to survive a motion to dismiss her case before trial. However, the court ruled against her on federal ADA claims and Ohio state claims against co-workers. The court rejected the holding in Blatt v Cabela’s, an opinion from a federal court in Pennsylvania that had found that the ADA protects trans workers despite a cruel and outdated exclusion of trans people from the ADA’s protection. We have come so far, and yet there is so far to go. https://ift.tt/2HHN6Fq

Jillian Weiss speaks about Transgender Rights

I spoke at the 2018 People's State of the Union about trans rights, and how workplace discrimination leads to violence.

Smith v. MISSION HOSPITAL, Dist. Court, WD North Carolina 2018 - Google Scholar

This case in North Carolina federal court shows the importance of identifying proof of discrimination. It’s not enough to say that you were a good employee passed over for promotion and plum assignments. You have to show that it was because of your sex (or other protected category) in that they said something to so indicate, or that similarly-situated people of other sex were promoted. Bad things happen to good people for all sorts of reasons. Showing that it was because of sex is key to winning the case.

Missouri Supreme Court Hears Case on Transgender Accommodations in Schools

The Missouri Supreme Court is hearing an important case involving a trans student who participated as a boy on the football and track teams. The school district declined to allow him to use the boys’ bathrooms and locker rooms. Such cases at the state level, especially in very conservative states, may become extremely important for the future. If the federal bench is stacked with right-wing ideologues, we will need to turn to the state courts. Even if the plaintiff loses this case, it will create an evolving conversation about these issues in legal circles that will become important should the issue be revisited in later years in the light of the reality of a growing population of trans youth everywhere. Interestingly, the School District is making a very anti-conservative argument. It argues that the intent of legislators is more important than the meaning of the text. "In documents filed for the Supreme Court, the school district...cautions that judges should reflect legislative intent...." Conservative lawyers and jurists espouse "textualism." For them, the meaning of the text, rather than the intent of one or more legislators, is controlling. As the U.S. Supreme Court has recognized, "sex" discrimination includes discrimination based on gendered norms, not just discrimination based on anatomy.

The Sunlight In Workplace Harassment Act

Wouldn’t it be great if public companies were responsible to the public, including shareholders, for harassment and discrimination and couldn’t sweep it under the rug to allow it to continue? So far this bill, the Sunlight In Workplace Harassment Act, has only Democratic sponsors. “‘We are in a moment in American history where people are coming together to say enough,’ Senator Warren said in a release. ‘But there won’t be real change until harassment in all corners of the country is exposed and the harassers are held accountable. Our bill will help unmask secret settlements that provide cover for the powerful to get away with abuse, harassment, and discrimination, while simultaneously protecting accusers’ privacy. Congress has a responsibility to pass it right away.’”

Puerto Rico Federal Court Holds In Favor of Accurate Birth Certificates for Transgender People

"'At the heart of liberty is the right to define one’s own concept of existence, of meaning, of the universe, and of the mystery of human life. Beliefs about these matters could not define the attributes of personhood were they formed under compulsion of the State.'” --Carmen Consuelo Cerezo, U.S. District Judge, April 20, 2018, quoting the U.S. Supreme Court, ruling in favor of the right of transgender people to have accurate birth certificates in Puerto Rico. I'm so pleased that my vision of a right of gender autonomy, the right of transgender people to define their gender free from state interference, first set forth in my 2001 law review in Tulane's Journal of Law & Sexuality (and cited in the briefs), has come to fruition in this case through the efforts of Lambda Legal, which has long championed the rights of trans people. https://ift.tt/2K9SRcO

Mass. is about to become a battleground over transgender rights - The Boston Globe

Massachusetts is a trans rights battleground over ballot measure to repeal trans rights law: “In the backdrop is the specter of North Carolina’s devastating experience after a 2016 bill required transgender people to use restrooms of the gender they were assigned at birth. A frenzy of opposition followed, prompting boycotts by sporting events, businesses, concerts, and consumers, costing the state money and the governor’s reelection.” The state was estimated to lose $3 billion from its economy as a result.

Transgender woman says employer, Spectrum Health, insurer, discriminate

A woman who works for Spectrum Health has filed a federal lawsuit in Michigan against her employer and insurer for allegedly failing to provide coverage for treatment of gender dysphoria, including surgery. The Michigan federal courts are under the authority of the 6th US Circuit Court of Appeals, which has ruled that the federal Civil Rights Act protects transgender people from sex discrimination. The complaint is interesting and well written, in that it includes counts under the Affordable Care Act, which prohibits sex discrimination in health care, the federal Civil Rights Act, which prohibits sex discrimination in employment, and for fraud and misrepresentations because her employer told her the care was not covered when it knew that the care was covered. The complaint is here: https://ift.tt/2EX3Hz3

Equality Case Files

There are many transgender legal cases to watch this week. Here is a roundup from the excellent Equality Files Roundup. These are the trans cases to watch:

Featured Updates:

Karnoski v. Trump (Military Ban Case)

Doe v. Boyertown (High school students suing because they must share locker room with transgender students appealing order denying preliminary injunction)

Students and Parents for Privacy v. U.S. Dept. of Education (Illinois parents and students, represented by ADF, suing school district over decisions that accommodate transgender students)

Reynolds v. Talberg (Parents and Students alleging discrimination because of their “sincerely held religious beliefs” as a result of the school's policies protecting LGBT students)

Parents for Privacy v. Sessions (Challenge to an Oregon school district policy that allows transgender students to use restrooms, showers, and locker room facilities consistent with their gender identity)

J.A.W. v. Evansville Vanderburgh School Corp (Transgender boy being denied access to the boys' restroom at his Indiana high school)

Vazzo v. City of Tampa, Florida (Therapists, represented by Liberty Counsel, challenging Tampa's ban on conversion therapy for minors)

Blair v. Brooklyn Transportation (Transgender woman suing a school bus transportation service company for employment discrimination)

Tudor v. Southeastern Oklahoma State University (Transgender professor’s employment discrimination suit)

Hicklin v. Precynthe (Challenge to Missouri Dept of Corrections policy barring access to hormone therapy if inmate was not receiving treatment prior to incarceration)

Bost v. Sam’s East and Walmart (Transgender woman suing employer for workplace discrimination under Title VII and disability claims under the ADA and state law)

Adams v. School Bd of St Johns County (Transgender boy being denied access to the boys' restroom at his Florida high school)

Franciscan Alliance v. Price (States and religiously-affiliated health care providers challenging anti-discrimination provisions in the Affordable Care Act)

Doe v. Massachusetts Department of Correction (Transgender woman incarcerated at a state facility that houses male inmates)

Daily v. Technical College System of Georgia (Transgender woman bringing discrimination claim against former employer under Title VII and federal and state constitutions)

Corbitt v. Taylor (Challenge to Alabama policy for changing gender marker on driver’s licenses)

Fulcher v. Secretary of Veterans Affairs (Appeal of VA’s refusal to amend or repeal a regulation that categorically denies transition-related surgery for transgender veterans)

Stockman v. Trump (Trans military ban) EEOC v. Rent-A-Center East (Employer sued for firing an employee because she is transgender, in violation of Title VII)

Morton v. Spectrum Health (Transgender woman suing her Michigan employer that stopped paying for her transition-related medical care)