Spectrum

Three cases are pending before the Supreme Court of the United States that could have significant impacts on the employment rights of LGBT workers. Decisions will be issued before the Court recesses at the end of June. These cases will determine if the 1964 Civil Rights Act prevents employment discrimination based upon sexual orientation and transgender status. Lydia Lavelle, politician and law professor, breaks down these cases in plain English and gives us some context for these monumental decisions that could be issued at any time. Lavelle is mayor of Carrboro, North Carolina near Durham. When she was elected in 2013, she was the first openly-lesbian mayor in North Carolina. Lavelle also is a law professor at North Carolina Central University and one of her research areas has been the effects of anti-discrimination laws on LGBT people. She notes that currently states across the country have a patchwork of civil right laws and employment discrimination against the LGBT population is allowed in much of the n