Compliance Stuff

Ten years have passed since the Supreme Court of the United States granted all same-sex couples the right to marry and have their marriages recognized nationwide. In the decade since the Supreme Court’s landmark decision, protections for LGBTQ+ employees in the workplace continue to evolve, including the Supreme Court’s subsequent decision in  Bostock v. Clayton County  and the current administration’s enforcement priorities related to gender affirming care. Quick Hits June 26, 2025, marked the tenth anniversary of the Supreme Court’s decision recognizing same-sex marriage nationwide. The  Obergefell v. Hodges  decision had important legal implications for employers’ benefit plans. Existing federal law bans discrimination in hiring and firing on the basis of gender identity and sexual orientation, while twenty-two states and Washington, D.C., also have laws banning workplace discrimination and harassment based on sexual orientation or gender identity. Ten years ago, ...

An in-house attorney recently sued his former employer in a Utah federal district court for discrimination and retaliation under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, alleging he was unlawfully fired after posting social media remarks criticizing gender-affirming care for transgender people and opposing a Utah nonprofit organization that advocates for LGBTQ+ rights. Quick Hits A former employee in Utah recently brought a federal lawsuit, claiming he was fired for criticizing on social media a LGBTQ+ rights nonprofit that partnered with his employer . The gay Christian employee is alleging sex, sexual orientation, and religious discrimination in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 . The case is in the U.S. District Court for the District of Utah. On May 22, 2025, a former employee for a Utah-based software company sued the company for discrimination and retaliation after he was fired a few months after he posted comments on social media criticizing gender-affirmi...

Real World Impact:   The United States Supreme Court issued a unanimous decision in a sex discrimination case as it sided with a straight woman on the standard to be used in pleading disparate treatment on the basis of her sexual orientation . The Court granted certiorari from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. Background on  Ames v. Ohio Department of Youth Services This case arises from a claim that Ames was not promoted – and, later, was demoted – as a result of her sexuality . In 2004, Ames was hired as an executive secretary at the Ohio Department of Youth Services. In 2014, she was appointed program administrator. In 2018, Ginine Trim, a gay woman, came into the Department as Ames’s supervisor. Under Trim’s leadership, Ames received positive performance evaluations. However, when she applied for a promotion in 2019, she was denied . Instead, a gay woman with less experience and no college degree was chosen over Ames. Not long after being denied a promotio...

At least one court says yes. True confession: When I was a little future lawyer, I was sometimes a pain. ( So, Robin, you’re saying your personality hasn't changed in all these years? ) When I was being especially “high maintenance,” my dad would tell me, “Robin, you’re more trouble than you’re worth.” NOTHING LIKE A JELLY BEAN TO BRING ME AROUND. Have you ever had an employee who was more trouble than they’re worth? I bet you have. I’m talking about an employee who is exhausting. She (or he) complains about everything, and usually in single-spaced run-on emails with multiple paragraphs. (Or, worse, no paragraphs at all – just a page-long, single-spaced, barely-coherent screed.) You try to do something nice for them, and they complain that you didn’t do something else. You do the something else, and they complain about that. They appreciate nothing. And take 1,000 words to tell you so. At some point, you may decide that they're more trouble than they're worth and want to pa...