Employment and Rights in the Workplace
For many people their job is an important part of who they are. It's also the way they support themselves and their loved ones and access health insurance and other benefits. For more than three decades, workplace equality has been a top priority for Lambda Legal. Some of our first clients were people who were fired because of their sexual orientation, and to this day, workplace concerns remain the number one topic for our Help Desk callers. In Lambda Legal's 2005 Workplace Fairness Survey, 39 percent of gay and lesbian workers reported experiencing some form of harassment or discrimination in the past five years. All of our cases and education campaigns seek to combat discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity or HIV status. Every day we are opening up opportunities for people to succeed at work.
National Context
There is no federal law that expressly forbids workplace discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people. Less than half of all states specifically ban workplace discrimination in the private sector based on sexual orientation. Only a handful of states ban discrimination based on gender identity, but many courts have held that transgender employees are protected under sex discrimination laws. The federal Americans with Disabilities Act and similar state laws do protect people with HIV from discrimination, but they are often misunderstood or ignored by employers. While a growing number of employers and city and local governments have enacted policies and laws to address discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity and HIV status, many people across the country, even where laws and policies exist, still have little recourse when they are fired or their benefits are attacked.
Lambda Legal's Impact
Lambda Legal's employment cases enforce, expand and defend protections for LGBT and HIV-positive people in the workplace. Our cases have led high-profile employers like Cirque du Soleil, Foot Locker and Subway restaurants to conduct training for their employees and make sure that their antidiscrimination policies are enforced. We have also successfully defended employment benefits for domestic partners when they have come under attack by antigay groups. Our education and advocacy campaigns are designed to boost the impact of our litigation work by increasing public support for legal protections for LGBT employees and employees with HIV. These campaigns send a powerful message to the general public — and to employers nationwide — that discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity or HIV status will not stand.
