This year New Hampshire amended its anti-discrimination laws to include “gender identity” as a protected class. In doing so, New Hampshire has made it unlawful to discriminate against an employee due to their gender identity. Under this new law, “gender identity” is defined as “a person’s gender-related identity, appearance, or…
Governor LePage recently signed onto a brief filed with the U.S. Supreme Court that asks the Court to review and overturn a decision from the U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals which held that federal law prohibits employment discrimination against transgender workers. The Sixth Circuit’s holding does not apply to…
Starbucks has decided to institute company-wide training on implicit bias. The company’s decision came on the heels of an incident where Starbucks employees called the police to remove some black people from the store for doing something that white people do all the time. These black people were waiting for…
This week the New Hampshire House of Representatives passed a bill that would prohibit discrimination in employment, housing, and places of public accommodation based on a person’s transgender status. New Hampshire is the only state in New England without such protection. The bill, which passed the house 195-129, now moves…
The National Center for Transgender Equality (NCTE) has released a report showing the results of a survey that it conducted of transgender Mainers. The survey showed what many already, intuitively, knew: transgender Mainers face frequent and extreme amounts of discrimination. According to the NCTE report: 8% of respondents who have…
Maggie Hasan, the Governor of New Hampshire, recently issued an executive order that prohibits employment discrimination against transgender people based on their gender identity or gender expression. The New Hampshire Law Against Discrimination already prohibited discrimination based on sexual orientation but not gender identity or expression. Governor Hasan’s executive order…
Last month the Maine Human Rights Commission (MHRC) issued new guidance for schools regarding the rights of transgender students. The MHRC had hoped to issue formal regulations but Governor LePage blocked that effort. The new MHRC guidance explains how schools are supposed to approach the issues of transgender students’ restroom…
In a new study, a researcher has found that employers tend to discriminate against female applicants who are lesbian, bisexual, or transgender; applicants who the researcher categorized as “queer.” To conduct the study, the researcher created fictitious resumes that were identical in every respect except some indicated that the applicant…
Earlier this month, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) issued guidance for employers who employ transgender employees that addresses the issue of restroom access. According to the guidance, employers should permit a transgender employee to use the restroom that corresponds to his or her gender identity. For example, an…
Exxon Mobil, the giant oil and gas corporation based in Texas, announced today that it has decided to change its equal employment opportunity (EEO) policies so that they now prohibit discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) individuals. Exxon Mobil has been under pressure for years to amend its…