ALBANY, N.Y. June 15, 2020 — New York State United Teachers President Andy Pallotta released the following statement today regarding the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision affirming the rights of LGBTQ workers:
“Workplace discrimination of any kind has no place in our communities. Today’s decision is a major victory for the LGBTQ community and those who continue fighting to create a more equal, just society. We celebrate this decision with our LGBTQ sisters and brothers in the labor movement. But we’re also keeping our attention focused on dismantling discrimination of any kind against the LGBTQ community and all marginalized people, particularly in the wake of the elimination of federal health care protections for transgender patients.”
NYSUT worked with its national affiliates, the American Federation of Teachers and the National Education Association, in filing an amicus brief with the Supreme Court in Altitude Express, Inc. v. Zarda, one of the cases decided on Monday. The unions, along with the National School Boards Association and American Association of School Administrators, argued Title VII always protected workers from discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender status.
In its own amicus brief in the Zarda case filed with the Second Circuit Court of Appeals in New York, NYSUT argued that sexual orientation discrimination is the same as discrimination on the basis of sex, is sex stereotyping and is associational discrimination, therefore Title VII protections apply.
New York State United Teachers is a statewide union with more than 600,000 members in education, human services and health care. NYSUT is affiliated with the American Federation of Teachers, the National Education Association and the AFL-CIO.