Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits employers from discriminating against people on the basis of race, color, religion, sex or national origin. This section applies to employers who employ 15 or more employees for each working day in each of 20 or more calendar weeks in the current or preceding year. Currently, the law does not prohibit discrimination against people based on sexual preference or gender identity, although some state laws do prohibit such discrimination. Any employer who is subject to Title VII should be sure to have their policies and procedures reviewed by an experienced St. Louis labor law attorney. The employment law attorneys of McMahon Berger have been counseling management on a variety of labor law issues for over 50 years, and are committed to minimizing employers’ legal risk.
The current political and social climate has drawn a significant amount of attention to lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) rights. There are currently multiple high profile cases before the United States Supreme Court challenging laws and court decisions that seek to restrict the definition of marriage, and several states have recently decided to recognize nontraditional forms of marriage. This seems to indicate that there has been a cultural shift to expand protection from discrimination to the LGBT community, and a recent survey conducted by the Small Business Majority adds further evidence to this position. According to the results of the survey, more than 2/3 of all small business owners think that federal and state laws should prevent discrimination in employment towards members of the LGBT community.
