{"id":1208,"date":"2019-09-04T17:57:20","date_gmt":"2019-09-04T17:57:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-humanresourcesmgmt\/?post_type=chapter&#038;p=1208"},"modified":"2024-04-24T23:29:19","modified_gmt":"2024-04-24T23:29:19","slug":"interpreting-the-law","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-humanresourcesmgmt\/chapter\/interpreting-the-law\/","title":{"raw":"Interpreting the Law","rendered":"Interpreting the Law"},"content":{"raw":"<div class=\"textbox learning-objectives\">\r\n<h3>Learning Outcomes<\/h3>\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>Discuss changing interpretations of legal protections of diversity<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/div>\r\nAs illustrated above, laws are subject to interpretation\u2014both expansion and contraction. For example, an EEOC notice[footnote]\"<a href=\"https:\/\/www.eeoc.gov\/eeoc\/newsroom\/wysk\/enforcement_protections_lgbt_workers.cfm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">What Your Should Know About EEOC and the Enforcement Protections of LGBT Workers<\/a>.\" U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Accessed September 14, 2019.[\/footnote] emphasizes that their interpretation of the Title VII reference to \u201csex\u201d is broadly applicable to gender, gender identity and sexual orientation. And further, that \"these protections apply regardless of any contrary state or local laws.\" This interpretation is consistent with Executive Orders issued by the Obama administration that extended discrimination protection based on sexual orientation or gender identity to federal workers and federal contractor employees. However, the Trump administration is seeking to reverse that interpretation and the associated protections.\r\n\r\nThe Supreme Court has agreed to hear a series of cases on the interpretation of \u201csex\u201d in the Civil Rights Act of 1964; specifically, to decide whether the Act\u2019s prohibition of employment discrimination based on sex applies to sexual orientation or transgender status.\r\n\r\nIn a brief submitted to the court on August 23, 2019, the Department of Justice argues that federal employment law doesn't protect workers from discrimination based on sexual orientation. A SHRM article notes that \u201cthe department's lawyers said that the ordinary meaning of \"sex\" is biologically male or female and doesn't include sexual orientation.\u201d[footnote]Nagele-Piazza, Lisa. \"<a href=\"https:\/\/www.shrm.org\/resourcesandtools\/legal-and-compliance\/employment-law\/pages\/doj-says-workplace-bias-law-does-not-cover-sexual-orientation.aspx\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">DOJ Asks Supreme Court to Find Workplace Bias Law Doesn't Cover Sexual Orientation<\/a>.\" Society for Human Resource Management. August 26, 2019. Accessed September 14, 2019.[\/footnote] Major companies, like the EEOC, are fighting to retain protections. In a SHRM article, attorney Allen Smith states that \u201cmore than 200 businesses signed a brief on July 2 calling on the Supreme Court to rule that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.\u201d[footnote]Smith, Allen. \"<a href=\"https:\/\/www.shrm.org\/resourcesandtools\/legal-and-compliance\/employment-law\/pages\/companies-oppose-lgbtq-discrimination.aspx\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Companies Urge High Court to Ban LGBTQ Discrimination<\/a>.\" Society for Human Resources Management. July 2, 2019. Accessed September 14, 2019.[\/footnote] The Supreme Court has agreed to hear two cases, one from a federal appeals court in New York that found that discrimination against gay men and lesbians is a form of sex discrimination and one from a court in Georgia that came to the opposite conclusion. The justices also agreed to decide the separate question of whether Title VII bars discrimination against transgender people.\r\n\r\nThe New York Times reports that in a minor case, \u201cJustice Neil M. Gorsuch wrote that courts should ordinarily interpret statutes as they were understood at the time of their enactment.\u201d Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg held that \u201cCongress may design legislation to govern changing times and circumstances.\u201d Adding, from a previous opinion, \u201cWords in statutes can enlarge or contract their scope as other changes, in law or in the world, require their application to new instances or make old applications anachronistic.\u201d[footnote]Liptak, Adam. \"<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2019\/04\/22\/us\/politics\/supreme-court-gay-transgender-employees.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Supreme Court to Decide Whether Landmark Civil Rights Law Applies to Gay and Transgender Workers<\/a>.\" The New York Times.April 22, 2019. Accessed September 14, 2019.[\/footnote]\r\n<div class=\"textbox key-takeaways\">\r\n<h3>Key Takeaway<\/h3>\r\nLaw is interpreted (and, by extension, enforced) differently by different Administrations and courts. As Zadie Smith observed: \"Progress is never permanent, will always be threatened, must be redoubled, restated and reimagined if it is to survive.\"\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<div class=\"textbox tryit\">\r\n<h3>Practice QUestion<\/h3>\r\nhttps:\/\/assess.lumenlearning.com\/practice\/69e2d84d-20c2-41f3-82e9-7c87a3d2a461\r\n<\/div>","rendered":"<div class=\"textbox learning-objectives\">\n<h3>Learning Outcomes<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Discuss changing interpretations of legal protections of diversity<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<p>As illustrated above, laws are subject to interpretation\u2014both expansion and contraction. For example, an EEOC notice<a class=\"footnote\" title=\"&quot;What Your Should Know About EEOC and the Enforcement Protections of LGBT Workers.&quot; U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Accessed September 14, 2019.\" id=\"return-footnote-1208-1\" href=\"#footnote-1208-1\" aria-label=\"Footnote 1\"><sup class=\"footnote\">[1]<\/sup><\/a> emphasizes that their interpretation of the Title VII reference to \u201csex\u201d is broadly applicable to gender, gender identity and sexual orientation. And further, that &#8220;these protections apply regardless of any contrary state or local laws.&#8221; This interpretation is consistent with Executive Orders issued by the Obama administration that extended discrimination protection based on sexual orientation or gender identity to federal workers and federal contractor employees. However, the Trump administration is seeking to reverse that interpretation and the associated protections.<\/p>\n<p>The Supreme Court has agreed to hear a series of cases on the interpretation of \u201csex\u201d in the Civil Rights Act of 1964; specifically, to decide whether the Act\u2019s prohibition of employment discrimination based on sex applies to sexual orientation or transgender status.<\/p>\n<p>In a brief submitted to the court on August 23, 2019, the Department of Justice argues that federal employment law doesn&#8217;t protect workers from discrimination based on sexual orientation. A SHRM article notes that \u201cthe department&#8217;s lawyers said that the ordinary meaning of &#8220;sex&#8221; is biologically male or female and doesn&#8217;t include sexual orientation.\u201d<a class=\"footnote\" title=\"Nagele-Piazza, Lisa. &quot;DOJ Asks Supreme Court to Find Workplace Bias Law Doesn't Cover Sexual Orientation.&quot; Society for Human Resource Management. August 26, 2019. Accessed September 14, 2019.\" id=\"return-footnote-1208-2\" href=\"#footnote-1208-2\" aria-label=\"Footnote 2\"><sup class=\"footnote\">[2]<\/sup><\/a> Major companies, like the EEOC, are fighting to retain protections. In a SHRM article, attorney Allen Smith states that \u201cmore than 200 businesses signed a brief on July 2 calling on the Supreme Court to rule that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.\u201d<a class=\"footnote\" title=\"Smith, Allen. &quot;Companies Urge High Court to Ban LGBTQ Discrimination.&quot; Society for Human Resources Management. July 2, 2019. Accessed September 14, 2019.\" id=\"return-footnote-1208-3\" href=\"#footnote-1208-3\" aria-label=\"Footnote 3\"><sup class=\"footnote\">[3]<\/sup><\/a> The Supreme Court has agreed to hear two cases, one from a federal appeals court in New York that found that discrimination against gay men and lesbians is a form of sex discrimination and one from a court in Georgia that came to the opposite conclusion. The justices also agreed to decide the separate question of whether Title VII bars discrimination against transgender people.<\/p>\n<p>The New York Times reports that in a minor case, \u201cJustice Neil M. Gorsuch wrote that courts should ordinarily interpret statutes as they were understood at the time of their enactment.\u201d Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg held that \u201cCongress may design legislation to govern changing times and circumstances.\u201d Adding, from a previous opinion, \u201cWords in statutes can enlarge or contract their scope as other changes, in law or in the world, require their application to new instances or make old applications anachronistic.\u201d<a class=\"footnote\" title=\"Liptak, Adam. &quot;Supreme Court to Decide Whether Landmark Civil Rights Law Applies to Gay and Transgender Workers.&quot; The New York Times.April 22, 2019. Accessed September 14, 2019.\" id=\"return-footnote-1208-4\" href=\"#footnote-1208-4\" aria-label=\"Footnote 4\"><sup class=\"footnote\">[4]<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"textbox key-takeaways\">\n<h3>Key Takeaway<\/h3>\n<p>Law is interpreted (and, by extension, enforced) differently by different Administrations and courts. As Zadie Smith observed: &#8220;Progress is never permanent, will always be threatened, must be redoubled, restated and reimagined if it is to survive.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"textbox tryit\">\n<h3>Practice QUestion<\/h3>\n<p>\t<iframe id=\"assessment_practice_69e2d84d-20c2-41f3-82e9-7c87a3d2a461\" class=\"resizable\" src=\"https:\/\/assess.lumenlearning.com\/practice\/69e2d84d-20c2-41f3-82e9-7c87a3d2a461?iframe_resize_id=assessment_practice_id_69e2d84d-20c2-41f3-82e9-7c87a3d2a461\" frameborder=\"0\" style=\"border:none;width:100%;height:100%;min-height:300px;\"><br \/>\n\t<\/iframe>\n<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t <section class=\"citations-section\" role=\"contentinfo\">\n\t\t\t <h3>Candela Citations<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t <div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t <div id=\"citation-list-1208\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t <div class=\"licensing\"><div class=\"license-attribution-dropdown-subheading\">CC licensed content, Original<\/div><ul class=\"citation-list\"><li>Interpreting the Law. <strong>Authored by<\/strong>: Nina Burokas. <strong>Provided by<\/strong>: Lumen Learning. <strong>License<\/strong>: <em><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"license\" href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/\">CC BY: Attribution<\/a><\/em><\/li><\/ul><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t <\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t <\/div>\n\t\t\t <\/section><hr class=\"before-footnotes clear\" \/><div class=\"footnotes\"><ol><li id=\"footnote-1208-1\">\"<a href=\"https:\/\/www.eeoc.gov\/eeoc\/newsroom\/wysk\/enforcement_protections_lgbt_workers.cfm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">What Your Should Know About EEOC and the Enforcement Protections of LGBT Workers<\/a>.\" U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Accessed September 14, 2019. <a href=\"#return-footnote-1208-1\" class=\"return-footnote\" aria-label=\"Return to footnote 1\">&crarr;<\/a><\/li><li id=\"footnote-1208-2\">Nagele-Piazza, Lisa. \"<a href=\"https:\/\/www.shrm.org\/resourcesandtools\/legal-and-compliance\/employment-law\/pages\/doj-says-workplace-bias-law-does-not-cover-sexual-orientation.aspx\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">DOJ Asks Supreme Court to Find Workplace Bias Law Doesn't Cover Sexual Orientation<\/a>.\" Society for Human Resource Management. August 26, 2019. Accessed September 14, 2019. <a href=\"#return-footnote-1208-2\" class=\"return-footnote\" aria-label=\"Return to footnote 2\">&crarr;<\/a><\/li><li id=\"footnote-1208-3\">Smith, Allen. \"<a href=\"https:\/\/www.shrm.org\/resourcesandtools\/legal-and-compliance\/employment-law\/pages\/companies-oppose-lgbtq-discrimination.aspx\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Companies Urge High Court to Ban LGBTQ Discrimination<\/a>.\" Society for Human Resources Management. July 2, 2019. Accessed September 14, 2019. <a href=\"#return-footnote-1208-3\" class=\"return-footnote\" aria-label=\"Return to footnote 3\">&crarr;<\/a><\/li><li id=\"footnote-1208-4\">Liptak, Adam. \"<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2019\/04\/22\/us\/politics\/supreme-court-gay-transgender-employees.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Supreme Court to Decide Whether Landmark Civil Rights Law Applies to Gay and Transgender Workers<\/a>.\" The New York Times.April 22, 2019. Accessed September 14, 2019. <a href=\"#return-footnote-1208-4\" class=\"return-footnote\" aria-label=\"Return to footnote 4\">&crarr;<\/a><\/li><\/ol><\/div>","protected":false},"author":17,"menu_order":6,"template":"","meta":{"_candela_citation":"[{\"type\":\"original\",\"description\":\"Interpreting the Law\",\"author\":\"Nina Burokas\",\"organization\":\"Lumen Learning\",\"url\":\"\",\"project\":\"\",\"license\":\"cc-by\",\"license_terms\":\"\"}]","CANDELA_OUTCOMES_GUID":"70b5a0c5-bb4d-4a4d-93e8-c27113572252, b4194867-08d3-4cf5-bf62-d2e2c95c65df","pb_show_title":"on","pb_short_title":"","pb_subtitle":"","pb_authors":[],"pb_section_license":""},"chapter-type":[],"contributor":[],"license":[],"class_list":["post-1208","chapter","type-chapter","status-publish","hentry"],"part":1200,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-humanresourcesmgmt\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/1208","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-humanresourcesmgmt\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-humanresourcesmgmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/chapter"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-humanresourcesmgmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/17"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-humanresourcesmgmt\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/1208\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3316,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-humanresourcesmgmt\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/1208\/revisions\/3316"}],"part":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-humanresourcesmgmt\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/parts\/1200"}],"metadata":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-humanresourcesmgmt\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/1208\/metadata\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-humanresourcesmgmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1208"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"chapter-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-humanresourcesmgmt\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapter-type?post=1208"},{"taxonomy":"contributor","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-humanresourcesmgmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/contributor?post=1208"},{"taxonomy":"license","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-humanresourcesmgmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/license?post=1208"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}