You finally settled that tough discrimination or harassment claim. Now you just need to ink the settlement agreement, and obviously it will include a standard non-disclosure clause to prevent your claimant from ever talking about the events or settlement amount ever again – right? Well, depending on the state you are in, not so fast.
Fifth Circuit Rejects Title VII Transgender Protection, but Grants Summary Judgment on Other Grounds
In Wittmer v. Phillips 66, Judge James Ho of the Fifth Circuit wasted no time stating the Fifth Circuit’s position on whether sexual orientation or transgender status are protected classes under Title VII – they are not. Interestingly, however, the defendant did not even raise that as a defense. In fact, the lower court
The Continuing “Trans-formation” of Title VII: Texas Federal Court Holds Transgender People Have Title VII Protection
A Texas district court recently held, for the first time in the Fifth Circuit, that transgender people are a protected class under Title VII—but the plaintiff still lost her case. In Wittmer v. Phillips 66 Company, the Houston-based federal court relied on recent opinions from the Second and Sixth Circuits to hold that the