Trillium Joins Amicus Brief to End LGBTQ Employment Discrimination

October 11, 2017 // Boston, MA – Today, Trillium joins Lambda Legal and 75 other businesses and organizations urging the U.S. Supreme Court to prohibit sexual orientation discrimination under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act. The amicus brief addresses the inconsistency with which two federal courts have interpreted ‘sex’ and whether discrimination based on sexual orientation is a form of sex discrimination. The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals and Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals have each arrived at different interpretations creating inconsistency for employers, employees, and LGBT individuals across six states.  This discrepancy can only be resolved only by the Supreme Court.
Trillium believes prohibiting sexual orientation discrimination in the workplace is good for employees, good for employers, and good for the U.S. economy. Research also has shown that corporate policies that foster inclusive workplaces by supporting LGBT employees lead to more positive business outcomes, lower staff turnover, and increased job satisfaction and productivity.[1] Failure to protect LGBT employees from discrimination hurts workplace productivity and talent retention. Trillium joins this friend-of-the-court brief alongside companies like Apple, Citrix, Deutsche Bank, eBay, Microsoft, MasterCard, Morgan Stanley, PayPal, Royal Bank of Canada, Starbucks, and many others.
Trillium remains committed to supporting public and corporate policies that protect LGBT people from discrimination. We will continue to press portfolio companies to include LGBT workers in their non-discrimination policies. Through 35 years of shareholder engagement, Trillium has helped ensure that dozens of companies in which we invest provide an inclusive workplace for hundreds of thousands of LGBT employees and their co-workers. And as a proud member of America Competes and Out Leadership we join with business across the country in support of LGBT equality.
The full text of the amicus brief can be found here.

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[1] http://williamsinstitute.law.ucla.edu/wp-content/uploads/Business-Impact-LGBT-Policies-Full-Report-May-2013.pdf