Employment Discrimination

08/13/2012

LGBT News

Working Towards an LGBT-Inclusive Platform

By Ian S. Thompson, ACLU Washington Legislative Office at 4:28pm

On Thursday evening, BuzzFeed reported that the draft 2012 Democratic National Platform includes, as part of an overall endorsement of the freedom to marry for same-sex couples, a call for passage of the Respect for Marriage Act in Congress. This important legislation would completely repeal the discriminatory so-called Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) and provide married gay and lesbian couples with certainty that, regardless of where they travel or move in the country, they will not be treated as legal strangers under federal law.

08/01/2012

Employment Discrimination

Obama Promised to Stop Government-Funded Discrimination. Has He?

By Dena Sher, ACLU Washington Legislative Office at 3:51pm

Four years ago last month, then-candidate Barack Obama promised to ensure that religious organizations that receive government funds to provide social services abide by the Constitution and are not allowed to discriminate with government funding. Today, we sent Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests to the Department of Justice to follow up on that promise.

06/20/2012

Wal-Mart

On the First Anniversary of Wal-Mart v. Dukes: Stand Up or Be Trampled

By Deborah J. Vagins, ACLU Washington Legislative Office at 10:27am

Image above: Betty Dukes with Senator Al Franken. The author, Deborah Vagins, to the immediate right, joined by coalition partners.

Over a decade ago, I had the great honor to be part of a team representing Betty Dukes, an employee at Wal-Mart who had received unfair treatment at her job and had decided to do something about it. Betty soon became the face of a large class of women who worked at Wal-Mart and faced similar types of discrimination in the workplace. These women banded together, from all across the country, to take on sex discrimination at one of the world’s largest employers—and through it all, Betty Dukes remained at the forefront fighting for justice. “In this life,” said Betty, “you have to stand up or be trampled.” The ACLU co-authored a brief before the Supreme Court, joined by a large number of civil rights groups, highlighting the gender stereotypes that the women were banding together to challenge.

06/13/2012

LGBT Discrimination in the Workplace

ENDA Is Good, Could Be Even Better

By Ian S. Thompson, ACLU Washington Legislative Office & Dena Sher, ACLU Washington Legislative Office at 5:04pm

On Tuesday, the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions held an important hearing on workplace discrimination experienced by those who are or perceived to be lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender (LGBT). The hearing addressed the need for federal legislation, the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA), to create uniform protections for LGBT people in the workplace. The sad reality remains that it is legal to fire or refuse to hire workers based on sexual orientation in 29 states and gender identity in 34 states.

05/01/2012

Employment Discrimination

Updated EEOC Guidance on Criminal Records: Neither the Apocalypse nor the Total Solution

By Vanessa Torres Hernandez , ACLU of Washington at 11:26am

Last week, the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission issued updated guidance on employers' use of criminal records to screen potential employees. On the day the guidance was published, we applauded the EEOC for helping to balance the civil rights of workers with the legitimate concerns of employers. Now that the dust has settled, some groups have complained that the EEOC guidance creates new law that will prevent employers from ensuring safety in the workplace. Are those criticisms well-founded? In a word: no.

04/25/2012

Employment Discrimination

EEOC: Help Stop Discriminatory Barriers to Employment

By Dan Zeidman, ACLU Washington Legislative Office at 5:49pm

Ms. W, a Native American woman in Washington State, was convicted in 2008 for possession of marijuana. After applying for a job at a discount retail store and receiving a conditional offer of employment, Ms. W received a call from the manager telling her that a background check company had given her a failing evaluation, without providing the employer with any further information.

As a result of this evaluation, the employer rescinded the conditional offer of employment. When Ms. W investigated, she found out that her background check erroneously reflected a more serious offense. Although the background check company subsequently corrected Ms. W's report, the damage had been done.

04/25/2012

Transgender Rights

EEOC Breakthrough: Anti-Transgender Discrimination Is Unlawful

By James Esseks, Director, ACLU Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender & AIDS Project at 4:16pm

Consider this: A person applies for a job at the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives as a ballistics forensic technician, is well-qualified for the position, and is offered the job. She then tells ATF that she is transitioning from male to female. A few days later, she's told the job has been cut for budget reasons. And then she learns that the job hasn't been cut, it's simply been given to someone else, who isn't transgender.

04/16/2012

On the Agenda

On the Agenda: Week of April 16 – 20, 2012

By Suzanne Ito, ACLU at 11:29am

Congress is back in session, so we've got a busy week ahead.

Today, the ACLU, along with several other groups, is launching a weeklong campaign called "Stop Cyber Spying Week" to draw attention to the massive civil liberties problems in H.R. 3523, the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act of 2011, better known as CISPA. CISPA is scheduled to be voted on by the House of Representatives next week. Tomorrow ACLU Legislative Counsel Michelle Richardson will speak at a House Hill Briefing called "The False Choice: Cybersecurity vs. Civil Liberties."

04/13/2012

LGBT Discrimination in the Workplace

President Obama: LGBT Workers Can't Wait

By Ian S. Thompson, ACLU Washington Legislative Office at 10:53am

Late Wednesday afternoon, it was reported that the Obama administration had made the decision to delay issuing an executive order to ensure that federal contractors receiving tax dollars do not discriminate against applicants and employees based on their sexual orientation or gender identity.

The decision to delay issuing the executive order is extremely disappointing. The reality remains that it is legal to fire or refuse to hire someone based on their sexual orientation in 29 states. Those who are transgender can be fired or denied employment solely based on their gender identity in 34 states. The costs of LGBT workplace discrimination are especially heavy on gay and transgender people of color, who have been shown to face disproportionately high rates of unemployment and poverty.

03/09/2012

LGBT Discrimination in the Workplace

President Obama: The Time Has Come for a Federal Contractors Non-Discrimination Executive Order

By Ian S. Thompson, ACLU Washington Legislative Office at 10:01am

In a Metro Weekly exclusive published on Thursday afternoon, Chris Geidner writes that President Obama, as a candidate for the office in 2008, specifically endorsed an executive order to ensure that federal contractors do not discriminate against applicants and employees based on their sexual orientation or gender identity.

American Civil Liberties Union