Michigan Court Splits on Anti-Gay, Anti-Trans Bias
Judge sees precedence against sexual orientation claim, but not gender identity suit
BY ARTHUR S. LEONARD
Relying on a 1993 opinion
from Michigan’s
intermediate-level appellate
court, a Court
of Claims judge ruled on December
7 that the state’s Elliot-Larsen
Civil Rights Act (ELCRA) — which
among others things prohibits
businesses from discriminating
against customers because of their
sex — cannot be interpreted as
banning sexual orientation discrimination.
Judge Christopher M. Murray,
ruling on December 7 in Rouch
World v. Michigan Department
of Civil Rights (MDCR), looked to
a 17-year-old precedent from the
Michigan Court of Appeals. He
found binding on him.
Signifi cantly, however, the
Michigan Supreme Court recently
vacated a Court of Appeals ruling
CIVIL RIGHTS
that a separate hate crimes statute
does not protect transgender
people.
It ordered the intermediate level
bench to reconsider the issue in
light of the US Supreme Court’s
June ruling in Bostock v. Clayton
County, which found that both
gender identity and sexual orientation
are protected classes under
the Title VII employment nondiscrimination
provision of the 1964
Civil Rights Act.
The state’s highest court, then,
is prepared to treat Bostock as a
persuasive precedent for interpreting
the state’s sex discrimination
laws — an inclination at odds with
Murray’s ruling last week in the
public accommodations case.
Michigan Attorney General Dana
Nessel, who is the nation’s second
out lesbian elected to such a post —
HUMAN RIGHTS CAMPAIGN
Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel, only the second out lesbian elected to such a post nationwide,
is appealing the Court of Claims ruling.
➤ MICHIGAN, continued on p.21
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