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Cases
Docket (Open Cases)
Lambda Legal filed a legal challenge to the U.S. Military policy that prevents people living with HIV from enlisting in the U.S. Armed Forces. The discriminatory policy requires that applicants for appointment and enlistment, as well as individuals being inducted into the military Services, be screened for HIV and denied entry if they test positive.
Recent Victories
Lambda Legal filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) on behalf of Alexandra “Lexa” Baldwin, a transgender woman employed as an IT technician at the University of Nevada, Reno. Due to a categorical exclusion in the Nevada Public Employees’ Benefits Program (PEBP), Lexa was denied coverage for medically necessary facial surgery. Lambda Legal filed a complaint against PEBP and the Nevada System of Higher Education with the EEOC based on the violation of federal and state laws prohibiting sex-based discrimination in employment.
Lambda Legal filed a federal lawsuit challenging the State of North Carolina’s discriminatory policy requiring transgender people to have undergone “sex reassignment surgery” in order for them to obtain an accurate birth certificate reflecting who they are.
Landmark Cases
A lawsuit against the U.S. Social Security Administration (SSA) on behalf of a 65-year-old gay man seeking spousal survivor’s benefits based on his 43-year relationship with his husband, who died seven months after Arizona began allowing same-sex couples to marry. The lawsuit filed on behalf of Michael Ely in the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona argues that SSA’s imposition of a nine-month marriage requirement for social security survivor’s benefits is unconstitutional where same-sex couples were not able to be married for nine months because of discriminatory marriage laws.
If you married your same-sex spouse, but were unable to be married for at least nine months before your spouse’s death because of discriminatory marriage laws where you lived, you may be a member of the Ely class. Click here for the Ely FAQ: https://www.lambdalegal.org/in-court/legal-docs/20210212_ely_faq
Bostock v. Clayton County, GA / Zarda v. Altitude Express / RG & GR Harris Funeral Homes Inc v. EEOC
On June 15, 2020, the Supreme Court issued a landmark decision approving the analysis Lambda Legal has been advancing for fifteen years that discrimination based on gender identity or sexual orientation is sex discrimination, and violates the Civil Rights Act of 1964. This federal law, which often is referred to as “Title VII,” prohibits employers from discriminating against employees on the basis of sex, race, color, national origin and religion. Selected Cases
Lambda Legal filed a legal challenge to the U.S. Military policy that prevents people living with HIV from enlisting in the U.S. Armed Forces. The discriminatory policy requires that applicants for appointment and enlistment, as well as individuals being inducted into the military Services, be screened for HIV and denied entry if they test positive.