Washington says law does not protect LGBTQ staff

Trump administration argues sexual discrimination not covered by Civil Rights Act

The Department of Justice has filed court papers arguing that a major federal civil rights law does not protect employees from discrimination based on sexual orientation in a case now being considered by a New York appeals court.

The department’s decision to file a brief in the case was a rare example of top officials in Washington weighing in on gay rights in what is an important but essentially private dispute between a worker and his or her boss.

The department’s amicus brief was filed Tuesday in the case of Donald Zarda, a sky diving instructor who filed suit against his employer Altitude Express, claiming it had violated Title VII of the1964 Civil Rights Act, which bars discrimination in the workplace based on “race, colour, religion, sex or national origin.”

Under Attorney General Jeff Sessions, the Justice Department has now stepped into fray, as reported by BuzzFeed. In its recent brief, the department noted that every Congress since1974 has declined to add a sexual-orientation provision to Title VII, despite what it called “notable changes in societal and cultural attitudes.”

Although another federal agency, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), filed its own brief supporting Zarda, the Justice Department said the EEOC was “not speaking for the United States.”

“The sole question here is whether, as a matter of law, Title VII reaches sexual orientation discrimination,” the department’s brief said. “It does not, as has been settled for decades. Any efforts to amend Title VII’s scope should be directed to Congress rather than the courts.”