Employers should take note of the extension of the Civil Rights Act that was provided by the United States Supreme Court last week. As, quite literally, the supreme court of the land, everyone in Minnesota is subject to the decision.
The court's decision was an interpretation of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. In short, that Act prohibits discrimination and employment decisions based on non-determinative factors such as race, religion, ethnicity, and the like. In the case of Bostock v. Clay County, Georgia the majority opinion, penned by President Trump's first Supreme Court appointee, stated that sexual orientation, if a factor in making an employment decision, is inclusive of sex as a deciding factor and therefore prohibited.
I can't imagine this comes as a surprise, given the legal and social evolution we are experiencing. But, it does reinforce the notion that employment decisions need to be based on objective, non-prohibited criteria. These decisions include hiring, not only firing, demotions, or promotions.
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