A heterosexual human resources employee fired over an anti-transgender Facebook post has no claim for sexual orientation-based job retaliation under federal law, the Fifth Circuit ruled April 19.
Circuit law is clear that Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act’s sex discrimination prohibition doesn’t extend to bias based on sexual orientation, Judge Edith H. Jones said. Bonnie O’Daniel therefore couldn’t have reasonably believed she was complaining about behavior that violated Title VII when she reported that one of the owners of Plant-N-Power Services was retaliating against her because, as a lesbian, she was offended by O’Daniel’s post, Jones said. ...