New study showing Texas dead-last in sexual orientation discrimination compliance

terryorze, says:

The common law doctrine of "employment at will" has been around for a long time. Sure, there are specific government protections, but the whole thrust of law in the area of hiring and firing is one of "hands off" - an employer should be able to hire or fire anybody whenever it wanted and for whatever reason. Private businesses have to voluntarily adopt policies of nondiscrimination. The best way to sum up employment law is that a worker can be fired for any reason other than a federally prohibited reason.

Although Congress has outlawed discrimination on the basis of "race, color, religion, sex, or national origin", it has not yet seen fit to include "sexual orientation". A handful of states (Connecticut, Hawaii, Massachusetts, NJ, and Wisconsin) and cities (NY, LA, Chicago) have, however, outlawed discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or "affectional preference". Employees who get fired on account of health reasons (AIDS or HIV) have to file disability discrimination suits.

Gay and lesbian employees are presently unable to have their "partners" covered under group health insurance plans or other employee benefits. The real issue here is that the only way anybody can acquire affordable health insurance is through an employer. Every one of us will lose our health coverage as soon as we are too ill to work. How totally asinine of system is that.

Gays and lesbians are not a protected class of people. Federal guidelines prohibit employment discrimination on the supposed characteristics of an entire class of people. Hence, federal supervisors must determine, on an individual basis, if the person would bring contempt to public service, manifest behavior that affects job fitness, or imply possible embarrassment to the government. During the cold-war McCarthy era (1943-1953), at least 1,700 federal workers were fired for allegations of homosexuality. All branches of the military allege that homosexuality is incompatible with military service, and estimates are that about 100 soldiers are discharged every year from the military for homosexuality. The FBI and CIA claim to treat each case individually, but usually deny homosexuals from jobs on the basis of national security. In addition, about 3 million people in America hold various security clearances of one sort or another. No gays or lesbians hold the most top secret (SCI) clearances. Gay applicants are subjected to excessive background checks, and the presumption is that they are a security risk through "indirect blackmail" - via their friends and lovers.