By Stuart Lark, John Melcon, and John Wylie

In what appears to be the first case directly addressing the issue, a U.S. District Court judge recently ruled that Title VII’s exemption for religious employers does not bar a claim of employment discrimination based on sexual orientation. This case is likely to be the first of many to consider this and related issues, particularly in light of the Supreme Court’s decisions this summer in Bostock v Clayton County and Our Lady of Guadalupe School v Morrissey-Berru. Ultimately these issues will probably need to be decided at the Supreme Court level.

Read the full advisory discussing the implications of the case here.