ArticleThe same court has ruled that it does protect transgender people, though
Cincinnati--The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals says that if the 1964 Civil Rights Act could protect a gay cop from employment discrimination, then all gays and lesbians would have to be protected--and that just can't be.
The 2-1 decision was rendered July 19 in the case involving police officer Chris Vickers and his former employer, the Fairfield Medical Center of Lancaster, Ohio, along with his supervisor, two co-workers and a co-worker's spouse.
Had Vickers prevailed, it would have been the first time the federal civil rights law would have protected a gay person from discrimination on the basis of sex-stereotyping.
The legal path is the same one taken in the landmark Smith v. Salem suit two years earlier by the same court.
