Sidley Helps Secure Supreme Court Win for LGBTQ+ Employees

In a major victory for LGBTQ+ rights, on June 15, 2020, the U.S. Supreme Court held in a 6-3 ruling that LGBTQ+ employees are protected under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Sidley’s pro bono practice filed two separate amicus briefs on behalf of the Williams Institute, a think tank at UCLA School of Law, in a trio of cases examining the question of whether workplace discrimination on the basis of either sexual orientation or gender identity violates Title VII. In each of the cases, the plaintiffs were fired because they were gay or transgender. The Williams Institute is dedicated to conducting independent research on sexual orientation and gender identity law and public policy. The Sidley lawyers who wrote the briefs were Jeffrey T. Green, Justin R. Becker, Katy (Yin Yee) Ho and Ethan Plail (Washington, D.C.); Carol Lynn Thompson (San Francisco); Dana R. Angood and Patrick C. Bryant (New York); David R. Carpenter, Andrew B. Talai and Mohindra Rupram (Los Angeles); and Jaimie McFarlin (alum). Support was provided by Karen Mawdsley (Washington, D.C. – paralegal) and John Meehan (Washington, D.C. – paralegal). Additional details are posted on the Williams Institute website.