Bostock v. Clayton County, Georgia

These two consolidated cases concern the same issue. Donald Zarda (deceased) was a skydiving instructor who claimed he was fired due in part to his sexual orientation. Mr. Bostock was a child welfare services coordinator who claims he was fired due to his sexual orientation. During the peak of the Civil Rights Movement, Congress passed Title VII to outlaw employment discrimination.^[15] The statute explicitly prohibits employers from discriminating against workers on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.^[16] It applies to private and governmental employers.^[17]

In 2010, Mr. Zarda, a gay man, worked as a sky-diving instructor, and his job at times entailed participating in tandem skydives with clients.^[18] When participating in such skydives, clients were often strapped chest-to-back and pelvis-to-pelvis with their instructor.^[19] Mr. Zarda often informed female clients of his sexual orientation to assuage any potential discomfort the client may have had regarding their bodies’ close proximity.^[20] After informing one female client of his sexual orientation, and then performing a tandem jump with her, the female client accused Mr. Zarda of inappropriately touching her.^[21] In response, Mr. Zarda’s supervisor fired him.^[22] The supervisor also told the New York Department of Labor that Mr. Zarda was fired “for shar[ing] inappropriate information with [customers] regarding his personal life.”^[23] Mr. Zarda filed a sex discrimination charge with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), claiming that he was fired because he disclosed his sexual orientation and refused to conform to a “straight male macho stereotype.”^[24] He then filed litigation in federal court alleging, among other things, that Altitude Express violated Title VII by terminating him because of his sexual orientation.^[25] Mr. Zarda lost at the district court level, but asked the court to reinstate his case after the EEOC determined in another matter that sex discrimination includes sexual orientation discrimination.^[26] The court declined to do so.^[27] However, the full en banc Second Circuit Court of Appeals found in Mr. Zarda’s favor, holding that sexual orientation discrimination is sex discrimination under Title VII.^[28]

Gerald Bostock is a gay man. He was previously employed as a child welfare services coordinator for the Juvenile Court of Clayton County, Georgia.^[29] Throughout his ten-year career working for Clayton County, Mr. Bostock received numerous favorable evaluations of his work and several awards.^[30] He was ultimately given responsibility over the Clayton County Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) program, whose volunteers “advocate for the best interests of the child” during juvenile court dependency proceedings.^[31] In 2013, Mr. Bostock joined a gay recreational softball league and spread awareness among league members of volunteer opportunities through the CASA program.^[32] Mr. Bostock’s sexual orientation and his participation in the gay softball league were openly criticized by an individual of considerable status in the Clayton County court system.^[33] At least one of Mr. Bostock’s colleagues made demeaning remarks about his sexual orientation and his participation in the league at a meeting attended by Mr. Bostock’s supervisor.^[34] Soon thereafter, Clayton County fired Mr. Bostock, stating that the basis for his firing was engaging in “conduct unbecoming of its employees.”^[35] After filing a charge of discrimination with the EEOC, Mr. Bostock filed a lawsuit against Clayton County under Title VII, claiming that the county discriminated against him based on his sexual orientation.^[36] The district court dismissed his case, finding that sexual orientation discrimination is not covered by Title VII.^[37] The Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the dismissal of Mr. Bostock’s case.^[38]