Transgender Discrimination is Illegal

Transgender discrimination is illegal. Why? Because it is gender discrimination under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act (and O.R.C. 4112.02, Ohio’s anti-discrimination statute). Two federal appellate courts have agreed. So has the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. These courts (the 9thand 6th appellate circuits) and the EEOC riffed off the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Price Waterhouse v. Hopkins. There, the Court said that making negative employment decisions based on a perception that the employee does not conform to the “gender stereotype” is discrimination under Title VII.

Transgender discrimination will rise as the labor force absorbs more transgender individuals. The law (and employment lawyers like me) will be there to protect them.