LEGAL/LGBTQ/SUPREME COURT/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “Dozens of businesses asked the Supreme Court on Wednesday [10-11-17] to find that federal law bars discrimination based on sexual orientation, putting companies including Apple Inc., Cigna Corp. , Morgan Stanley and Viacom Inc. at odds with the Trump administration.
The businesses asked the court to hear the appeal of a lesbian who alleges discrimination at the Savannah, Ga., hospital where she worked as a security officer. The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, in Atlanta, dismissed her claim in March, after holding that sex discrimination, which the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits under Title VII, doesn’t encompass discrimination based on sexual orientation.
The ruling ‘has wide-ranging, negative consequences for businesses, their employees and the U.S. economy,’ the companies told the Supreme Court in a friend of the court brief. ‘Businesses’ firsthand experiences—supported by extensive social-science research—confirm the significant costs for employers and employees when sexual orientation discrimination is not forbidden by a uniform law, even where other policies exist against such discrimination.’…
Federal courts are divided on the legal question.”
-Jess Bravin, “Companies Ask Supreme Court to Hear Gay-Rights Case,” The Wall Street Journal online, Oct. 11, 2017 10:00am