Sexual Orientation Discrimination St. Louis

Missouri is one of 30 states that does not have any laws that bar employers from firing or refusing to hire gay, lesbian, bisexual, transexual, or queer employees. While there is no specific law protecting employees from discrimination based on their sexual orientation, according to the Human Rights Campaign, a Missouri Court of Appeals recently decided that discrimination based on sex stereotypes is a form of sexual discrimination, as reported U.S. News. According to Judge Anthony Gabbert “If the employer mistreats a male employee because the employer deems the employee insufficiently masculine, it is immaterial whether the male employee is gay or straight. The prohibition against sex discrimination extends to all employees, regardless of gender identity or sexual orientation.”

Yet, the Justice Department under the Trump Administration recently filed papers stating that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 does not protect gay employees from discrimination, adding further confusion as to how states without laws in place should approach LGBTQ discrimination claims, as reported by the New York Times. If you have been discriminated against because of your sexual orientation, you need to discuss your options for justice and compensation with a St. Louis attorney. The HKM Employment Attorneys have been helping employees fight for their rights for more than 40 years, and are prepared to take on complex employment cases such as yours.

Holding Employers Accountable for Discrimination in the Workplace

The Federal Employment Non-Discrimination Act, and earlier versions like it, would prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation. Such bills have been introduced to every congress since 1974, and all have failed to pass. Many states have their own such laws in place, though Missouri is not one of those. The lawyers of HKM Employment Attorneys, however, are more than prepared to take your case to court despite the lack of laws in place and argue that you are the victim of sexual discrimination. The forms of discrimination that LGBTQ people experience in the workplaces are similar to those of other minorities, including women and people of color. Examples of such discrimination include the following:

• Refusing to hire an employee because she is gay;
• Harassing an employee at work because he is gay, or, as an employer, not taking reasonable steps to prevent such harassment by other employees. Harassment includes slurs, intimidation, making a mockery of, threats, hostility, exclusion, assault, and other types of unfavorable treatment that inhibits the employee’s ability to perform their job;
• Denying promotions, raises, or equal pay because of an employee’s sexual orientation;
• Transferring an employee to another department because they are bisexual; or
• Cutting an hourly employee’s work time because they are transexual.

Representing the Rights of Oppressed LGBTQ Employees and Job Applicants

The fight for equality in America has not been more necessary or as pressing since the 1960s. With a country divided between their morals over LGBTQ issues and human rights, sexual orientation discrimination is amid an upward spike, and thousands of Missouri employees and applicants are facing the hatred of biased employers on a daily basis. If you are the victim of sexual orientation discrimination, call the St. Louis law offices of HKM Employment Attorneys LLP today.