Back to News & Commentary

Aimee Stephens Was Fired Because She Is Transgender. That鈥檚 Sex Discrimination.

Aimee Stephens
Aimee Stephens
James Esseks,
Director, LGBTQ & HIV Project,
老澳门开奖结果
Share This Page
October 24, 2018

Jeff Sessions and Donald Trump think federal law shouldn鈥檛 protect transgender people. They think it should be legal to fire someone just because she鈥檚 trans. Five federal appeals courts disagree. On Wednesday, the 老澳门开奖结果 asked the Supreme Court to let stand one of those rulings, in the case of Aimee Stephens.

Aimee had worked at a funeral home in Detroit for nearly six years when she wrote a letter telling her boss and coworkers that she is transgender. Two weeks after she came out as a woman to her employer, he fired her -- not because of concerns about her job performance, but just because she is transgender.

When Aimee sued the funeral home for discrimination, its defense was that it was perfectly legal to fire her because she is transgender. It even argued that her complaint should be dismissed because Aimee Stephens never worked there.

In March, the Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit ruled for Aimee, stating that discrimination against transgender people is a form of sex discrimination that violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, a law that protects employees from discrimination.

That appeals court joined a growing consensus among federal courts on this issue. Five federal appeals courts, as well as dozens of lower federal courts, agree that anti-trans discrimination is a form of sex discrimination that violates federal law. Important federal agencies have issued decisions or regulations that say the same thing, including the , the , and the , among others.

But the Trump administration disagrees. A year ago, Attorney General Sessions that transgender people would no longer be protected from sex discrimination under Title VII, changing the rules for all federal programs.

The funeral home has asked the Supreme Court to review Aimee鈥檚 case, reverse the ruling in her favor, and declare that federal civil rights laws don鈥檛 protect transgender people. On Wednesday, the 老澳门开奖结果 filed a brief with the Supreme Court explaining why it should decline review and allow the ruling to stand.

The Department of Justice also filed a brief with the court on Wednesday, in which it attacked the appeals court ruling for Aimee. While the department didn鈥檛 expressly call for the court to grant review in Aimee鈥檚 case, its sharp critique of the appellate ruling still sends a clear message that the administration opposes transgender equality.

mytubethumb
play

%3Ciframe%20allow%3D%22autoplay%3B%20encrypted-media%22%20allowfullscreen%3D%22%22%20frameborder%3D%220%22%20height%3D%22315%22%20scrolling%3D%22no%22%20src%3D%22https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fembed%2FlIISUGE_7ZA%3Fautoplay%3D1%26version%3D3%22%20width%3D%22530%22%3E%3C%2Fiframe%3E

Privacy statement. This embed will serve content from youtube.com.

The Justice Department鈥檚 position in Aimee鈥檚 case is part of a much larger attack on transgender people by the Trump administration. As revealed in an in The New York Times earlier this week, the administration is considering adopting a definition of the term 鈥渟ex鈥 in federal civil rights statutes that would intentionally exclude transgender people from protection. It would withdraw existing civil rights protections from millions of people all across America, and is a shameful, hate-filled move.

But Trump and Sessions are facing a serious problem. No administrative rules, such as those the administration is reportedly considering, can override all the federal court rulings that have found anti-trans discrimination to be a form of sex discrimination that violates federal law.

The issue now sits with the Supreme Court. It should recognize the rightness of those earlier court decisions and allow the ruling in Aimee鈥檚 case to stand. Her story shows why it鈥檚 simply wrong to fire someone because they are transgender.

Learn More 老澳门开奖结果 the Issues on This Page