US Man Sacked In 2013 For Being Gay Awarded $825000 Payout – Star Observer

Clayton County has settled a discrimination lawsuit brought on by a man whose case was one of three that led to a U.S Supreme Court ruling and civil rights law protecting gay, lesbian, and transgender people from discrimination in employment.

Gerald Bostock, a former Clayton child welfare services coordinator, was the plaintiff in the historic 2020 Supreme Court case Bostock v Clayton County. 

Bostock was fired in June 2013 “for Conduct Unbecoming of a Clayton County Employee”, where the county argued his dismissal was based on an audit of funds he managed. 

In 2016, Bostock stated that he was fired from his job because of his sexual orientation where his participation in a gay softball league was criticised by management. Bostock had appealed to the high court after the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected his claims.

‘No One Should Fear Losing Their Job For Being Gay’

As reported by Associated Press, the Clayton County Board of Commissioners approved an $825,000 settlement for Gerald Lynn Bostock following the lawsuit filed against the county that alleged he was fired in 2013 for being gay. 

Bostock expressed his elation at the result, speaking at the news conference on Friday that he was “filled with joy and words can hardly express how happy I am that this is now over.”

“As I said from the beginning, no one should go to work fearful of losing their job because of who they are, who they love or how they identify,” Bostock said. 

Bostock’s former boss, ex-Clayton Juvenile Court Judge Steven Teske, accused Bostock of mishandling court funds and claimed that his dismissal was not a result of his sexual orientation. 

However, during testimony, Teske, said that his suspicions about Bostock’s alleged misspending were linked to his sexual orientation which led to the decision to fire him, reported the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. 

Landmark Ruling

The Supreme Court ruling in June 2020, which included the discrimination cases of Aimee Stephens and Donald Zarda, stated that a key part of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VII) outlaws job discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity. The existing provisions under the 1964 Civil Rights Act also applied to cases where “an employer fires an individual merely for being gay or transgender”.

According to the American Civil Liberties Union Bostock’s ruling extended to federal agencies that enforce these laws. President Joe Biden had ssued an executive order directing all federal agencies to recognise that existing federal bans on sex discrimination protect against LGBTQ discrimination too. 

In their report, ACLU states, “While there currently are only 23 states that expressly provide at least some state-wide protections against discrimination based on sexual orientation and/or gender identity, there now are 36 states in which individuals can file complaints regarding sexual orientation and/or gender identity discrimination with their state administrative agencies that handle discrimination complaints in at least some contexts.”