sexual orientation

Subscribe to sexual orientation via RSS

As many wait for the Supreme Court’s decision later this term on same-sex marriages, one issue that seems to get lost in the shuffle is the fact that there is still no federal law prohibiting discrimination in employment on the basis of sexual orientation.

For employers in Connecticut, this is basically a non-issue because Connecticut…

Let’s play the “law school hypothetical” game for a minute.  (I know, not as exciting as a cat being chosen in Monopoly, but bear with me.)

You hear the following allegations:

  • An gay, male employee starts works as a teacher in an “New Beginnings Alternative” program at a public school.
  • During his employment, he is subject to derogatory statements by a fellow teacher, a school police officer and a supervisor.
  • Allegedly a supervisor tells a social worker that the employee is “too flaming” or “too flamboyant”. Also, a fellow teacher is alleged to have said to the employee at a department meeting that “You are so overdramatic, you are being a bitch just like a woman.”
  • The employee is criticized for not being a “team player” and that his “apparent proneness towards using sarcasm and humor (that is often not understood by others) must change.”
  • The employee believes that the supervisor’s comments regarding how he and others cannot understand the employee’s sense of humor “stems from their divergent social views and pervasive stereotypes on gender and sexuality.”
  • Ultimately, the employee is informed that his contract may not be renewed which does, in fact, lead to a non-renewal of the contract.

Assuming, as you must for the moment, that the allegations are all true, does the employee have any claims? If so, what are they?Continue Reading Can Being Called “Too Flamboyant” Be Basis for State Gender Discrimination Claim?

President Obama was re-elected to a second term last night (something forecasted by stats guru Nate Silver). What does it mean for employers?

Four More Years

I won’t go quite as far as fellow blogger Jon Hyman, who said this morning that “it just doesn’t matter” who won last night.  I…

All this week, this blog (and other employment law blogs — here, here, here and here) are posting employment law-related questions for the major-party candidates for President and Vice President.  Today’s turn: Mitt Romney.

Courtesy Mitt Romney Campaign

(For a recap of this process — and a…

The Connecticut Supreme Court, in a decision that will be officially released on May 15, 2012, today ruled unanimously that Connecticut’s anti-discrimination laws implicitly create a claim for hostile work environment based on an employee’s sexual orientation.  The state’s anti-discrimination laws have long been interpreted to bar a hostile work environment based on gender,…

It’s not very often that the Connecticut Supreme Court considers employment law issues.

But today, two notable cases are being argued in front of the court. Both could have an impact on employers in the state.

Court Considers Employment Law Cases

In Patino v. Birken Manufacturing, the court is being…

AS UPDATED 11/7 below:

In my earlier post, I highlighted the policy issues that are likely to be on the new administration’s radar.

But suppose you want to work in the new administration, there’s an "expression of interest" form that you can fill out too on the "Jobs" page.

Buried at the bottom of the…

Earlier this year, proponents of a bill to make transgender (or gender identity and expression) a protected category  failed in their efforts to get that category covered under the state’s anti-discrimination laws. 

A new United States District Court case this week may provide proponents with an example of a case that, in their view, may have come…

The big headlines this week in employment law centeredThe U.S. Capitol - Public Domain around the passage in the U.S. House of Representatives of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA).  Various blogs have written about the law generally and they provide a good foundation for understanding the law in general. In particular:

…