Federal appeals court rules gay worker can't be fired for sex orientation

Salon -The latest ruling by a federal appeals court in Manhattan, in which the court determined that firing employees over their sexual orientation is a variation of illegal sex discrimination, is being hailed as a victory for the LGBT community.

In the case in question, Zarda v. Altitude Express, Inc., skydiving instructor Donald Zarda was allegedly fired by his employer because of his sexual sexual orientation. The Justice Department intervened unexpectedly in July 2017, and argued against the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, claiming that Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, which defines workplace discrimination as that of “race, color, religion, sex or national origin,” didn’t protect gay employees.

However, the second U.S Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that it does."Sexual orientation discrimination — which is motivated by an employer’s opposition to romantic association between particular sexes — is discrimination based on the employee’s own sex," Judge Robert Katzmann wrote, according to the New York Times.