Federal agency sues for gay employment protections before Trump confirms attorney general
Activists hug in front of the White House after the Supreme Court legalised same-sex marriage (Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP/Getty)
Lawyers for an independent federal agency are already pushing for LGBT protections, despite President Trump’s attorney general being unconfirmed.
Despite apparently having no guidance from the Trump administration so far, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission filed a lawsuit this week to protect gay restaurant workers against harassment.
The lawsuit alleges that the Scottsdale Wine Café discriminated against Wyatt Lupton, who is out as gay and Jared Bahnick, who was perceived to be gay.
According to the lawsuit, the men were called “fag”, “faggot” and “sissy” by colleagues.
The lawsuit was filed by the EEOC in the US District Court in Arizona, reports BuzzFeed.
According to the lawsuit, the EEOC states that the discrimination violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act.
It is unclear whether the Trump administration agrees that Title VII should apply to anti-gay discrimination.
The lawsuit states that “the men were being subjected to a hostile work environment because they were perceived as not conforming to sex- or gender-based assumptions, expectations, norms, or stereotypes of men, because of their sex, because of their sexual orientation, and, in [Jared] Bahnick’s case, because he was perceived to be gay.”
It states that the men complained to management but the complaints were not addressed.
