Some of the globe's most-admired
companies have filed an amicus brief with the Supreme Court
calling for it to find that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964
bans workplace discrimination against people who identify as lesbian,
gay, bisexual and transgender.
The Supreme Court has agreed to
consider the issue in a trio of cases to be heard in October.
The brief was organized by five LGBT
rights advocates: the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), Lambda Legal, Out
& Equal, Out Leadership, and Freedom for All Americans.
Two-hundred-and-six companies,
including Apple, Facebook, Disney, Microsoft, Starbucks, Amazon, and
Northrup Grumman, signed the brief written by the Los Angeles-based
law firm Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, LLP.
“Interpreting Title VII of the Civil
Rights Act of 1964 to exclude sexual orientation or gender identity
from protections against sex discrimination would have wide-ranging,
negative consequences for businesses, their employees, and the U.S.
economy,” the brief states. “Our nation's employers and employees
would benefit from this Court's recognition that members of the
nation's large and productive LGBT workforce are protected from such
sex-based discrimination in the workplace.”
HRC said in a statement that “these
employers know first-hand that protecting the LGBTQ community is both
good for business and the right thing to do.”