LGBTQ Workplace Protections: Analyzing the Supreme Court’s Landmark Ruling

In this video, I discuss the Supreme Court's recent decision, Bostock v. Clayton County, issued on June 15. Bostock is one of three cases consolidated by the Supreme Court on the issue of whether sexual orientation and transgender discrimination is a form of sex discrimination under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. By a 6-3 vote, the Court answered that question in the affirmative, changing the workplace legal environment for a population that, until only a few years ago, had no rights under Title VII.



I was on the legal team in Zarda v. Altitude Express, along with Gregory Antollino (lead counsel), the American Civil Liberties Union, and Pamela Karlan, Esq., who argued the appeal in the Supreme Court on behalf of Bostock and Zarda.

In this discussion, I talk about the history of gay rights in the Supreme Court, how these cases reached the Court, my personal observations from working on the Zarda portion of the case, and what the Court did in ruling that this form of discrimination is a form of sex discrimination under Title VII. Question and answer session follows my discussion.



I gave this talk on July 13 for the Elting Memorial Library in New Paltz, N.Y., where I am on the Board of Trustees.