ELEVENTH CIRCUIT BARS TITLE VII SEXUAL ORIENTATION CLAIMS
Labor & Employment Law Section
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This circuit conflict
ensures that the
contentious issue
ultimately will be
decided by the United
States Supreme Court.
O
n March 10, 2017,
the Eleventh Circuit
shut the proverbial
door on sexual
orientation claims under Title VII
of the Civil Rights Act of 1964
by refusing to extend Title VII
to sexual orientation. Evans v.
Ga. Reg’l Hosp., 850 F.3d 1248
(11th Cir. 2017).
The Eleventh Circuit’s decision
comes at a time when the circuit
courts have split on the proper
scope of Title VII’s protection.
Earlier this year, the Seventh
Circuit, in Hively v. Ivy Tech
Community College of Indiana,
853 F.3d 339 (7th Cir. 2017),
decided to overrule its previous
position on sexual orientation
claims, holding that Title VII’s
prohibition of sex discrimination
encompasses discrimination based
on sexual orientation. The Seventh
Circuit’s decision marks the first
time a federal appeals court has
expanded Title VII to include
sexual orientation. This circuit
conflict ensures that the contentious
issue ultimately will be decided by
the United States Supreme Court.
By way of background, Title
VII does not specifically include
sexual orientation as a protected
class. Since enacting Title VII in
1964, Congress has repeatedly
rejected legislation that would
extend Title VII to cover sexual
orientation. As a result, federal
courts across the country have
routinely dismissed discrimination
claims based on sexual orientation,
because Title VII’s statutory
language does not expressly
mention sexual orientation.
Because of recent shifts in societal
norms, however, the Seventh
Continued on page 47
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