Dozens of companies, including Google and Microsoft, are urging the U.S. 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals to rule that discrimination against LGBT+ people is illegal sex discrimination under Title VII.
The companies have asked the court to reconsider its previous decision in a lawsuit brought by the estate of Donald Zarda, a skydiving instructor who claimed he was fired after telling a customer he was gay. Zarda, who has since passed away, was told by a panel of three 2nd Circuit judges that discrimination against gay workers was not sex discrimination under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act. The full court can overturn the decision of a panel.
The brief represents the most prominent example of major American businesses banding together to advocate for the courts to interpret Title VII as protecting LGBT+ people from employment discrimination.