Harbinger Of Things To Come?

The Supreme Court has refused to hear a case of employment discrimination against lesbians and gays letting a lower court ruling against us stand.

Supreme Court Won’t Hear Case on Bias Against Gay Workers
New York Times
By Adam Liptak
December 11, 2017

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court said on Monday that it would not hear an appeal in a case that could have resolved whether a federal law prohibits employers from discriminating against gay and lesbian workers.

The case concerned Jameka Evans, who said a Georgia hospital discriminated against her because she is a lesbian. She sued under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits workplace discrimination based on sex.

In March, a divided three-judge panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit, in Atlanta, ruled that Title VII’s reference to sex did not encompass discrimination based on sexual orientation.

The reach of Title VII has divided the federal appeals courts. In April, by an 8-to-3 vote, the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, in Chicago, said Title VII covered gay people. “It would require considerable calisthenics to remove the ‘sex’ from ‘sexual orientation,’” Chief Judge Diane Wood wrote for the majority.

Is this an omen of things to come in the case of Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission? This is the case where the store owner said that he should be able to discriminate against people claiming that it violated his religious creed.

The Times article goes on to suggest some reason why the court refused to hear the case,

Such conflicts between appeals courts can prompt Supreme Court review. But the justices may have been troubled by an unusual aspect of Ms. Evans’s case. Lawyers for the hospital argued that it had not been properly served with legal papers, and they told the Supreme Court that they did not intend to appear to participate in the case.

The Advocate wrote…

He emphasized, however, that “this was not a ‘no’ but a ‘not yet.’” He added, “Lambda Legal will continue the fight, circuit by circuit as necessary, to establish that the Civil Rights Act prohibits sexual orientation discrimination. The vast majority of Americans believe that LGBT people should be treated equally in the workplace. The public is on the right side of history; it’s unfortunate that the Supreme Court has refused to join us today, but we will continue to invite them to do the right thing and end this hurtful balkanization of the right of LGBT people to be out at work.”

This is the second case LGBT that the Supreme Court has turned down to hear,

This month the Supreme Court declined to hear another LGBT rights case, saying it won't review a Texas Supreme Court ruling that marriage equality doesn't necessarily mean employers have to provide equal benefits to all spouses, same-sex or opposite-sex. The Texas high court had sent that case back to the Harris County District Court in Houston for consideration, and that is where it stands now.

It appears that the court is waiting for a nice clean case for them to hear; let’s hope that is the case.