Another federal appeals court will soon decide whether Title VII prohibits sexual orientation discrimination.

The employer in the "gay skydiver case" has reportedly asked for Supreme Court review.

Let's look at the arguments, pro and con, that the Supreme Court is likely to hear someday.

The issue of whether Title VII prohibits sexual orientation bias will have to be resolved another day.

The freedom of speech afforded by the First Amendment is remarkably broad. Several categories of speech, including even “hate speech,” are afforded varying degrees of protection.

However, the freedom of speech guaranteed by the First Amendment is not without limits, even for public sector employees. Governmental employees who voice their opinions — even on matters of legitimate public concern – are well served to choose their words, as well as the times and forums in which they communicate those words, very carefully.

Just ask Michael Todd Snipes, a former law enforcement captain for the Beach Safety and Ocean Rescue Department in Volusia County, Florida. Capt. Snipes was fired for making racially insensitive comments on his Facebook page and in group text messages sent to several of his fellow officers.

In freedom of speech cases, the context in which a thought or idea is communicated often matters a great deal. Although there is never a good time to make racially insensitive remarks, Capt. Snipes’ timing was particularly ill-considered.

Law360 reported this morning that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit refused to rehear the case of Evans v. Georgia Regional Hospital, in which two out of three judges on a panel of the court decided that Title VII did not prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation. Here is a copy of the Court's order denying the rehearing.

According to the Law360 article, Lambda ...

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit (Connecticut, New York, and Vermont) agreed yesterday to rehear en banc an appeal from the estate of a gay skydiving instructor who alleged he was fired after a customer complained about his sexual orientation. The case is Zarda v. Altitude Express.

The issue to be decided by the court is "Does Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 ...

Attention, H-1B employers! The Trump Administration announced this week that it would take a closer look at employers who use workers with H-1B visas. Elizabeth Joiner has the details in this Immigration Dispatch.

Sexual orientation discrimination does violate Title VII, appeals court says. This week's decision from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit is a first, and ...

The full U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit ruled yesterday that sexual orientation discrimination is indeed prohibited "sex discrimination" within the meaning of Title VII.

The decision was issued in the case of Hively v. Ivy Tech Community College of Indiana. A three-judge panel of the Seventh Circuit had found last year that Title VII did not prohibit sexual orientation ...

As we reported early this morning, the full U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit decided in Hively v. Ivy Tech Community College of Indiana that the prohibition in Title VII against discrimination based on “sex” encompasses discrimination based on sexual orientation. It is the first federal appellate court to do so, although recent decisions from other federal appeals ...