New York • Ruling in the case of a gay skydiving instructor, a federal appeals court in New York on Monday became the second one in the country to declare that U.S. anti-discrimination law protects employees from being fired over their sexual orientation.
The decision could set the stage for an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court to settle the question once and for all.
In a 10-3 ruling, the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said that while it and other courts around the U.S. previously found that Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act didn’t cover sexual orientation, “legal doctrine evolves.