The American Bar Association (ABA) holds its Midyear Meeting later this week in Vancouver (Canada!) and the House of Delegates is scheduled to debate several resolutions of interest to employers and employment lawyers.
As readers of this blog, you happen to “know” the Connecticut State Delegate (me!), coordinating a delegation of several esteemed lawyers from Connecticut.
Thus, if you have any questions or concerns about the resolutions, please e-mail me this week at dschwartz@goodwin.com.
Or feel free to add a comment below.
You can review all the resolutions here but the few that I would pay attention to are as follows:
- Resolution 116A supports an interpretation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 that defines sex discrimination by covered employers to include discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity.
- Resolution 117 urges courts to recognize that service in the United States Armed Forces should not be restricted and that individuals should not be discriminated against on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity.
- Resolution 302 tackles the wave of sexual harassment allegations that have been making headlines every day. In doing so, it would urge “all employers, and specifically all employers in the legal profession, to adopt and enforce policies and procedures that prohibit, prevent, and promptly redress harassment and retaliation based on sex (including gender, gender identity, and sexual orientation) and the intersection of sex and other protected classes.” The resolution contains a list of suggestions for employers to follow.
The ABA’s resolutions set the policies for the organization to follow. Thus, the debates that flow from these are more than just theoretical, they help set the path for the ABA to follow. Attorneys should take note and follow the goings on. I’ll have an update for you in an upcoming blog post as well.