Indiana woman at center of federal court ruling on LGBTQ workers speaks out
SOUTH BEND, Ind. (WISH) – An Indiana woman at the center of a federal court ruling on LGBTQ discrimination called the ruling “a surprise” and a “step in the right direction.”
An appeals court in Chicago ruled this week that a 1964 Civil Rights Act protects LGBTQ workers from discrimination. The ruling stems from a 2014 lawsuit in which a part-time college instructor, Kimberly Hively, claimed Ivy Tech did not promote her because she’s lesbian-a claim that Ivy Tech denies.
“There’s been a lot of ‘no’s’ in this case so to finally hear ‘yes’ was very surprising and absolutely wonderful,” Hively said.
Hively’s story starts at Ivy Tech South Bend where she worked part time. Over the course of five years, Hively claimed in a lawsuit, she applied for six full-time positions and was denied promotions because she’s lesbian.
The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals did not rule that the college discriminated. It ruled that the 1964 Civil Rights Act protects Hively from discrimination. Her case will now head to a trial court.
“It gives me the right to sue Ivy Tech for discrimination,” Hively said.
The Civil Rights Act prohibits workplace discrimination based on race, color, religion, national origin and sex. The law does not use the phrase “sexual orientation.”
A chief judge wrote in this week’s 8-3 ruling that it’s “actually impossible to discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation without discrimination on the basis of sex.”
A dissenting judge responded that an employer who refuses to hire homosexuals is “not excluding gay men because they are men and lesbians because they are women. His discriminatory motivation is independent of and unrelated to the applicant’s sex.”
Local advocates are celebrating the ruling as a win for gay rights. The Seventh Circuit has jurisdiction over Illinois, Wisconsin and Indiana.
“It’s closing the gap that was created with same-sex marriage,” Hively said. “Same-sex couples are allowed to marry but they’re not protected in jobs or housing.”
Ivy Tech released a statement saying the college’s policies reject all discrimination.
The statement said, in part, “Ivy Tech respects and appreciates the opinions rendered by the judges of the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals and does not intend to seek Supreme Court review. The College denies that it discriminated against the plaintiff on the basis of her sex or sexual orientation and will defend the plaintiff’s claims on the merits in the trial court.”
A federal court in Atlanta ruled the opposite last month. The Eleventh Circuit Court decided the Civil Rights Act does not protect LGBTQ workers.Read the decision here: