On Monday, in Zarda v. Altitude Express,
Inc., the Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
joined the Seventh Circuit in holding that sexual orientation
discrimination is banned under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of
1964.
Donald Zarda was a skydiving instructor employed at Altitude
Express. He brought a discrimination charge with the EEOC alleging
he was fired after disclosing to a client that he was gay. He
subsequently brought a federal lawsuit alleging sex stereotyping in
violation of Title VII and sexual orientation discrimination in
violation of New York law. The District Court granted summary
judgment to the defendants on the Title VII claims.
In resolving this appeal, the court cited evolving legal
doctrine, including the EEOC's 2015 decision holding that
sexual orientation is a sex-based consideration as well as Supreme
Court decisions that Title VII prohibits discrimination based on
traits that are a function of sex, such as life expectancy
