Tennessee Attorney General Herbert Slatery has joined 15 other states in appealing to the U.S. Supreme Court a favorable federal appellate court ruling that held employers can't fire transgender persons because of their gender identity.
Slatery criticized the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals ruling, which said Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits employment discrimination against transgender people.
The March ruling also held that employers may not use the Religious Freedom Restoration Act to justify discrimination against LGBT workers.
Slatery charged the ruling redefines "sex" to include "transgender status."
Chris Sanders, executive director of the Tennessee Equality Project, retorted that Slatery's action "points to the need for a transgender attorney on his staff so that the office can gain a better understanding of the law and the realities faced by transgender employees."
The ruling by the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decision involved a Michigan funeral home and a transgender woman, who was hired as a man, who told her boss she had a gender identity disorder and planned to transition.
Her boss fired her, later testifying in court that he terminated the worker because "he was no longer going to represent himself as a man," according to news accounts. The employer also said gender transition "violat[es] God's commands" because "a person's sex is an immutable God-given fit."
In his news release announcing he was joining other states, including Alabama, to push the issue before the nation's highest court, Slatery said the decision "essentially rewrote federal law. Unless and until Congress affirmatively acts to change Title VII, it is up to the States, not the federal judiciary, to determine which protections, or not, should flow to individuals based on gender identity."
He added that "because this case may also have implications for Tennessee's schools, Tennessee has a strong interest in obtaining review by the U.S. Supreme Court."
The Tennessee Equality Project's Sanders said Slatery is ignoring a situation in which "LGBTQ people face higher rates of job discrimination than the general public."
Contact staff writer Andy Sher at asher@timesfreepress.com or 615-255-0550. Follow him on Twitter at AndySher1.