{"id":519,"date":"2016-08-10T11:17:19","date_gmt":"2016-08-10T11:17:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bowditch.com\/campuscounselnewengland\/?p=519"},"modified":"2020-07-31T13:27:57","modified_gmt":"2020-07-31T13:27:57","slug":"appeals-court-upholds-illogical-definition-of-sex-discrimination-under-title-vii","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bowditch.com\/campuscounselnewengland\/2016\/08\/10\/appeals-court-upholds-illogical-definition-of-sex-discrimination-under-title-vii\/","title":{"rendered":"Appeals Court Upholds Illogical Definition of \u201cSex Discrimination\u201d Under Title VII"},"content":{"rendered":"

On July 28, 2016, the 7th Circuit became the latest circuit court to rule that Title VII does not bar workplace discrimination based on sexual orientation. The case,\u00a0Hively v. Ivy Tech Community College<\/a>, was the first to extensively address the \u201cgroundswell of questions\u201d raised by the EEOC\u2019s conflicting interpretation of \u201csex\u201d discrimination under Title VII. In the end, the court maintained the status quo and held that Congress did not intend \u201csex\u201d to include sexual orientation. The court struggled to reach a solid basis for their conclusion in an opinion as confusing as the legal conundrum they attempted to dissect.<\/p>\n

As described in an LGBTQ Legal Issues Blog\u00a0post by Jennifer Garner on July 29, 2015<\/a>, the EEOC first decided that sexual orientation discrimination claims were cognizable under Title VII in the case Baldwin v. Foxx<\/span>. In Baldwin<\/span>, the court held that sexual orientation is \u201cinseparable from and inescapably linked to\u201d discrimination based on sex. Specifically, the gender-based stereotype that men should love women and women should love men forms the basis of sexual orientation discrimination.<\/p>\n

Although the EEOC\u2019s reasoning is only binding on federal agencies, the Hively<\/span> court wholeheartedly accepted and commended the EOCC\u2019s analysis. They proclaimed that any line between discrimination based on \u201csex\u201d and sexual orientation was \u201cinvisible\u201d and attempts to separate sexual orientation claims as beyond the realm of Title VII would \u201cessentially throw out the baby with the bathwater.\u201d Nevertheless, the Hively<\/span> court proceeded to draw this invisible line between gender and sexual orientation: discrimination based on the gay and lesbian \u201clifestyle\u201d was not protected under Title VII, while discrimination based on a failure to comply with \u201cgender norms\u201d of masculinity and femininity was cognizable as a gender-based concern. The court noticeably failed to explain how this \u201clifestyle\u201d stigma could be attributed to an employee without first deciphering that employee\u2019s sexual orientation; a construct inherently based on gender stereotypes.<\/p>\n

The arbitrary line that the Hively<\/span> court describes, thoroughly criticizes and eventually adopts, provides \u201ceffeminate\u201d males and \u201cmasculine\u201d females with Title VII protection, and leaves individuals who do not fit this stereotype without Title VII recourse. The court noted the \u201cillogical\u201d outcome of the test, of which they \u201cundoubtedly [do] not condone,\u201d and passed the buck to the Supreme Court to make a change.<\/p>\n

Responding to the Hively<\/span> decision, EEOC Commissioner Chai Feldblum spoke with Reuters Legal and suggested that a Supreme Court ruling on this issue might not be far off. A district court case currently on its way to the Second Circuit, Christiansen v. Omnicom Group<\/span>, condemned the majority Title VII interpretation and called for the Second Circuit to adopt the EEOC interpretation. If the Second Circuit complies with the lower court\u2019s request, a Circuit split could bring this issue before the Supreme Court. At the very least, the Hively<\/span> court\u2019s confused opinion, coupled with the growing number of district courts adopting the EEOC interpretation, conveys a clear call for change.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On July 28, 2016, the 7th Circuit became the latest circuit court to rule that Title VII does not bar workplace discrimination based on sexual orientation. The case, Hively v. Ivy Tech Community College, was the first to extensively address the “groundswell of questions” raised by the EEOC’s conflicting interpretation of…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":55,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-519","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nAppeals Court Upholds Illogical Definition of \u201cSex Discrimination\u201d Under Title VII - Campus Counsel<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bowditch.com\/campuscounselnewengland\/2016\/08\/10\/appeals-court-upholds-illogical-definition-of-sex-discrimination-under-title-vii\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Appeals Court Upholds Illogical Definition of \u201cSex Discrimination\u201d Under Title VII - Campus Counsel\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"On July 28, 2016, the 7th Circuit became the latest circuit court to rule that Title VII does not bar workplace discrimination based on sexual orientation. 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