LGBT Employment Discrimination

The Michigan Supreme Court ruled yesterday in a 5-2 decision that Michigan’s main civil rights statute, the Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act, prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation. This means ELCRA’s anti-discrimination protections extend to LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender) Michiganders.

Going Deeper:

The Michigan Supreme Court decision stems from a lawsuit, Rouch World LLC

Employer Religious Freedom and LGBT RightsLast year we reported on an important LGBT case involving a Michigan corporation that fired a transgender female employee (EEOC v. R.G. & G.R. Harris Funeral Homes, Inc.). The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) argued Title VII’s ban on sex discrimination prohibits bias based on gender identity. The funeral home’s majority shareholder claimed

same-sex coupleOn July 16, 2015, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) issued a decision confirming that workplace discrimination based on sexual orientation violates title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VII)

Title VII is the primary federal statute that prohibits a range of discrimination against employees. This decision marks the first time the

same-sex coupleOver 370 companies, including small businesses and Fortune 100 companies, and business groups showed their support for same-sex couples seeking the right to marry by filing a brief in the same-sex marriage case Obergefell v Hodges pending before the U.S. Supreme Court.

Thirty-seven states and Washington, D.C. permit same-sex marriages under local laws or court

LGBT DiscriminationLast year, some Michigan politicians introduced proposed legislation to amend Michigan’s main employment civil rights statute, the Elliot-Larsen Civil Rights Act (ELCRA), to protect employees who are gay from discrimination. That legislation, however, didn’t go anywhere. And going into the elections this November the future of that legislation is, at best, uncertain and, more likely,