March 08, 2018
The Sixth Circuit's groundbreaking decision Wednesday that a funeral home owner's religious beliefs didn't shield him from a U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission suit claiming he illegally fired a transgender employee serves as a clear warning to employers that the Religious Freedom Restoration Act is a questionable tool to defend against trans discrimination suits, experts say.
March 07, 2018
The Sixth Circuit issued a published decision Wednesday reviving a U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission suit accusing a Michigan funeral home operator of violating federal anti-discrimination law by firing its funeral director after she said she would transition from male to female, holding that the company wasn't protected by the Religious Freedom Restoration Act.
June 12, 2017
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission continued on Friday to press the Sixth Circuit to revive claims that a funeral home fired an employee because of her gender identity and transition, blasting the business' recent arguments against breathing life into the case for being offensive and ignoring precedent.
May 19, 2017
A funeral home pressed the Sixth Circuit on Wednesday not to revive the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission's claims that it fired an employee because of her gender identity and transition, saying allowing a funeral director to wear the uniform for members of the opposite sex on the job would violate its owner's religious beliefs.
April 25, 2017
Lambda Legal, the SEIU and various church groups sided Monday with a former funeral home employee trying to revive claims that she was fired because of her gender identity and transition, telling the Sixth Circuit that a lower court’s dismissal could open the floodgates for all sorts of workplace discrimination in the name of religious beliefs.
April 18, 2017
A former funeral home employee told the Sixth Circuit Monday that she was fired because of her gender identity and transitioning process, and also urged the appellate court to rule that Title VII's sex discrimination provisions already cover bias against transgender individuals that is based on their gender identity.
March 27, 2017
A transgender former funeral home employee who was fired over her sexual identity can intervene in the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission's appeal to revive a sex discrimination suit against her employer since the agency might not aggressively pursue transgender rights cases like hers under President Donald Trump, the Sixth Circuit ruled Monday.
February 14, 2017
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has urged the Sixth Circuit to overturn a decision allowing a funeral home to fire a transgender employee over her sexual identity, saying she is entitled to protection under the Civil Rights Act.
February 07, 2017
A Michigan funeral home that allegedly fired a transgender worker over her sexual identity urged the Sixth Circuit Monday not to let her intervene in an Equal Employment Opportunity Commission suit based on her complaint, saying her worries that President Donald Trump's EEOC will blow off her case don't excuse her motion coming years into the case.
January 27, 2017
A fired transgender funeral home director seeks to join the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in appealing a district court's adverse ruling in her sex discrimination suit, telling the Sixth Circuit on Thursday that she no longer has faith in the agency to solely protect her interests because of the change in presidential administration.