U.S. Justice Department says anti-bias law does not protect gay workers

Record ID: 904336

  • Title: U.S. Justice Department says anti-bias law does not protect gay workers
  • Date: 27th July 2017
  • Summary: NEW YORK, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES (JULY 27, 2017) (REUTERS) DONALD ZARDA'S LAWYER, GREGORY ANTOLLINO, WALKING DOWN HALLWAY (SOUNDBITE) (English) DONALD ZARDA'S LAWYER, GREGORY ANTOLLINO, SAYING: "You get strapped up to someone experienced like Don Zarda, who had 5,000 jumps, experience, and you watch the video and there's really nothing that goes wrong. But in order for people to feel comfortable in the aircraft when they're about to jump out of a plane, you have to be giddy and happy and goofy. And someone said to the woman that he was being strapped to, 'I bet you didn't think your girlfriend was going to get strapped up to another guy,' to her boyfriend, who was also there. And to lighten things up and take away any suggestions of jealousy he said, 'You don't have to worry about me. I'm gay and I have the ex-husband to prove it.' And his ex-husband was his best friend and is now the executor of his estate. She complained to her boyfriend, who then complained to the owner, who then fired my client and we have the termination recording on tape as well." NEW YORK, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES (JULY 27, 2017) (REUTERS) (MUTE) SCAN OF COURT BRIEF NEW YORK, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES (JULY 27, 2017) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (English) DONALD ZARDA'S LAWYER, GREGORY ANTOLLINO, SAYING: "Is it unusual? Yes. But this is an en banc case and it involves a United States statute. Do I agree with what the attorney general said? No. But they have the right to express their views." NEW YORK, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES (JULY 27, 2017) (REUTERS) (MUTE) SCAN OF COURT BRIEF NEW YORK, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES (JULY 27, 2017) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (English) DONALD ZARDA'S LAWYER, GREGORY ANTOLLINO, SAYING: "I think this is about the human condition and the right to be free from employment discrimination, and to protect your family, especially if you can get married as a gay person. And to deny the right of employment discrimination against employment discrimination to people who get married is just wrong and there are interpretations that would allow gay people to have access under Title VII." NEW YORK, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES (JULY 27, 2017) (REUTERS) (MUTE) SCAN OF COURT BRIEF NEW YORK, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES (JULY 27, 2017) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (English) DONALD ZARDA'S LAWYER, GREGORY ANTOLLINO, SAYING: "It affirmed on the basis of Simonton v. Runyon, in such a way that it was basically suggesting that this has to go to the en banc panel so I, with the help of several other lawyers, put together this petition and the judge has voted in favor of rehearing it, which is a rare thing in the Second Circuit. We were very lucky to get that." NEW YORK, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES (JULY 27, 2017) (REUTERS) (MUTE) SCAN OF COURT BRIEF NEW YORK, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES (JULY 27, 2017) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (English) DONALD ZARDA'S LAWYER, GREGORY ANTOLLINO, SAYING: "What wasn't surprising was No. 1, the argument that it's made ad infinitum that Congress has tried, for so many years, to pass a specific law that would protect gay and lesbian people or people who are transgender. But the Supreme Court has recognized that legislative non action is not a proper way in which to infer the intent of the legislature." NEW YORK, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES (JULY 27, 2017) (REUTERS) (MUTE) SCAN OF COURT BRIEF NEW YORK, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES (JULY 27, 2017) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (English) DONALD ZARDA'S LAWYER, GREGORY ANTOLLINO, SAYING: "I haven't made any money on the case but it's been a lot of fun and I hope that it changes the law. That's my goal."
  • Embargoed: 10th August 2017 22:09
  • Keywords: Gregory Antollino Justice Department Title VII EEOC protection Donald Zarda
  • Location: NEW YORK, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES
  • City: NEW YORK, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES
  • Country: USA
  • Topics: Crime/Law/Justice,Judicial Process/Court Cases/Court Decisions
  • Reuters ID: LVA0036RHVMFB
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: The Trump administration told a U.S. appeals court that federal law does not ban discrimination against gay employees, a sharp reversal of the position former President Barack Obama took on a key civil rights issue.
    The U.S. Department of Justice, in a friend of the court brief, told the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan on Wednesday (July 26) that Congress never intended Title VII, which bans sex discrimination in the workplace, to apply to gay workers. The department also said the court owed no deference to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, a federal agency that enforces Title VII and has argued since 2012 that the law bans discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.
    The brief came hours after President Donald Trump said he would ban transgender people from serving in the military. That would reverse a 2016 policy adopted by Obama.
    The department's brief was in support of New York skydiving company Altitude Express Inc in a lawsuit filed by a former employee, Donald Zarda. Zarda claimed he lost his job as a skydiving instructor after he told a customer he was gay and she complained. He died in a skydiving accident after filing the lawsuit.
    Zarda's lawyer, Gregory Antollino, said on Thursday (July 27) that the department was making the same arguments the Supreme Court rejected in cases involving discrimination against workers in interracial relationships.
    In April, a three-judge 2nd Circuit panel dismissed Zarda's case, citing a prior ruling that said discrimination against gay workers is not a form of sex discrimination under Title VII.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2017. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register