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Open Access Publications from the University of California

Scholarly Works (5 results)

  • Article
Documenting Discrimination on the Basis of Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity in State Employment (2014)
Approximately 37,000 LGBT workers in Utah are vulnerable to employment discrimination absent state or federal legal protections.  At least 17 localities in Utah prohibit private employment discrimination against LGBT people, yet 53 percent of the workforce remains unprotected by local ordinances.  A statewide non-discrimination law would result in 17 additional complaints being filed with the Utah Anti-discrimination and Labor Division each year.  The cost of enforcing the additional complaints would be negligible.  At most, it would cost the state approximately $14,500 annually; only 0.9 percent of the Utah Antidiscrimination and Labor Division’s annual budget.
    Cover page: Employment Discrimination Based on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity in Utah
    • Book
    Other Recent Work (2013)

    Amending New York’s Human Rights Law to explicitly prohibit discrimination based on gender identity would extend protections to an estimated 41 percent of New York’s population, including 23,800 transgender people. Currently, 59 percent of New Yorkers are covered by 12 local ordinances that are inconsistent, limited and, at times, weaker than the state human rights law. Five ordinances do not provide protection in all areas covered by the state human rights law.

      Cover page: Local Laws and Government Policies Prohibiting Discrimination Based on Gender Identity in New York
      • Article
      Documenting Discrimination on the Basis of Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity in State Employment (2013)
      Gender identity discrimination protections in Maryland are extended through four local ordinances that are inconsistent, and provide more limited remedies than Maryland’s state non-discrimination laws. A gubernatorial executive order that applies only to state employees also exists. The four local laws all provide gender identity discrimination protections in the same areas covered by state law, including employment, housing and public accommodation, though Baltimore City and Howard County also expressly prohibit discrimination in some types of government services. Baltimore City prohibits discrimination in public education and by its health and welfare agencies, and Howard County prohibits law enforcement officers from harassing and discriminating against citizens based on protected characteristics. Notably, the remedies available under the local ordinances are generally more limited than those provided by state law, especially as it relates to monetary relief available through administrative proceedings, and state case law may further limit those remedies.
        Cover page: Local Laws and Government Policies Prohibiting Discrimination Based on Gender Identity in Maryland
        • Article
        Documenting Discrimination on the Basis of Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity in State Employment (2013)

        The 160,000 LGBT adults in Missouri would benefit from an expanded state non-discrimination law that includes sexual orientation and gender identity. There is currently no Missouri law protecting LGBT people from discrimination in housing, employment, and public accommodations. A uniform state-wide law would maximize protection for Missouri’s LGBT population, and provide them the same recourse available to their non-LGBT counterparts.

        Media reports and lawsuits document that a number of Missourians have faced discrimination in housing, public accommodations, and the workplace because they are LGBT.  Complaints have been filed against hotels, landlords and retail stores; and teachers, law enforcement, truck drivers, and attorneys have filed workplace discrimination complaints. Eighteen Missouri localities currently provide protection from sexual orientation discrimination by local ordinance, sixteen of which also provide protection against gender identity discrimination, but the ordinances are inconsistent, and less effective than a state-wide law would be. In many cases, the local ordinances do not fully cover public and private employment, housing, public accommodations, and government services, and Missouri state law provides stronger remedies, and a private right of action that many of the local ordinances do not provide.

          Cover page: Employment, Housing, and Public Accommodations Discrimination Based on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity in Missouri
          • Article
          Documenting Discrimination on the Basis of Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity in State Employment (2013)
          More than 25,000 LGBT workers in West Virginia continue to face widespread and persistent employment discrimination absent state or federal legal protections. Charleston, Morgantown, Lewisburg, Harpers Ferry, and Buckhannon have local ordinances that prohibit employment discrimination against LGBT people, but they do not provide as much protection for LGBT people as the state’s law that prohibits other types of discrimination. Approximately 95 percent of West Virginia’s workforce is not covered by a local ordinance prohibiting employment discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity. A statewide non-discrimination law would result in 12 additional complaints being filed with the West Virginia Human Rights Commission each year. The cost of enforcing the additional complaints would be negligible. At most, it would cost the state approximately $53,750 annually; only 2.9 percent of the West Virginia Human Rights Commission’s annual budget.
            Cover page: Employment Discrimination Based on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity in West Virginia
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