Title VII claim – Appeals court schools community college in sex discrimination

Description

Abstract: In what appears to be a judicial trend, the Seventh Circuit recently decided that Title VII protects employees from discrimination based on sexual orientation. The court in Hively v. Ivy Tech Community College of Indiana was guided by several Supreme Court decisions regarding sex discrimination. This article examines those cases and the theories set forth by the employee in Hively. A sidebar looks at a similar Eleventh Circuit case with a different result. Hively v. Ivy Tech Community College of Indiana, No. 15-1720, Apr 4, 2017 (7th Cir.) Oncale v. Sundowner Offshore Servs., Inc. No. 96-568, March 4, 1988 (U.S.) Evans v. Georgia Regional Hospital, No. 15-15234, March 27, 2017 (11th Cir.) Price Waterhouse v. Hopkins, No. 87-1167, May 1, 1989 (U.S.)