Landmark Lgbtq Rights Victory In Chicago Could Lead To Major Supreme Court Showdown

         LGBTQ rights are likely headed for a showdown at the U.S. Supreme Court     after judges in Illinois came to opposite conclusions from courts in     Georgia and New York on whether LGBTQ people are protected from     discrimination in the workplace.



         But that will change—locally, at least—after the Seventh Circuit’s ruling,     which found that claims of discrimination on the basis of sexual     orientation are covered under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act. That law     prohibits sex-based bias in the workplace, and the April 4 decision made     the Seventh Circuit the first federal appellate court to extend the     interpretation of that law to include LGBTQ people.



         Greg Nevins, the Lambda Legal attorney who represented Hively, petitioned     the court for en banc review, in which all 11 members of the Seventh     Circuit would hear the case. That would allow the court to deliberate not     only its own previous rulings, but also changes in civil rights law since Ulane was decided more than three decades ago. In 1998’s Oncale v.     Sundowner Offshore Services, for example, the Supreme Court held that     claims of sexual harassment were still valid if both of the parties     involved were of the same gender.



         “There’s undoubtedly a chilling effect, not just in the workplace but also     in public,” Johnson says of the legal climate prior to the Seventh     Circuit’s ruling. “The impetus for the Hively case was around a kiss in a     parking lot. Laws like these means LGBTQ people might not hold hands with     their partner at the mall or may not go out for Friday date night because     they don’t want to be seen by their employer or colleagues at work.”



         According to Nevins, the 11th Circuit argued in last month’s ruling that     employers have the right to dismiss their workers “at will.”



         Justice Anthony Kennedy, who is 80 years old, may be considering     retirement, according to recent reporting by ABC News. That would allow     Trump to fill another seat on the court. The two most liberal members of     the court, Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Stephen Breyer, are also its oldest     judges, at 84 and 78 respectively.