Legal to fire gay people, court rules
Chief Thracian
Doreen Brandt, 365Gay.com
Monday, August 6, 2001 / 04:22 PM
SUMMARY: A US federal appeals court has ruled that firing a person
because of their sexual orientation is legal.
PHILADELPHIA -- A US federal appeals court has ruled that firing a
person because of their sexual orientation is legal.
The court upheld a 1998 lower court ruling which threw out a suit by a
man who sued the Philadelphia Coca-Cola Bottling Co. alleging he had
been subjected to harassment and fired for being gay.
John J. Bibby, 41, a lab technician at the Coca-Cola plant, said he
began having medical problems in 1993, including weight loss,
breathing problems and vomiting blood.
Bibby was told he would be terminated after he was found with his eyes
closed while a machine for which he was responsible malfunctioned. He
was reinstated after filing a grievance.
In court papers Bibby said he was assaulted the day he returned to
work and harassment on the basis of his sexual orientation continued
the following month by co-workers and managers.
Lawyers for the company denied the claims, but the case did not go to
trial because U.S. District Judge Jan E. Dubois dismissed the suit on
the grounds that harassment or discrimination based on sexual
orientation was not covered by U.S. civil rights laws.
The 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the ruling.
"Harassment on the basis of sexual orientation has no place in our
society," U.S. Circuit Judge Maryanne Trump Barry wrote for a
unanimous three-judge panel. "Congress has not yet seen fit, however,
to provide protection against such harassment. Because the evidence
produced by Bibby -- and indeed, his very claim -- indicated only that
he was being harassed on the basis of his sexual orientation rather
than because of his sex, the district court properly determined that
there was no cause for action."
Bibby's attorney, Arthur B. Jarrett, said he was disappointed by the
ruling and might appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court
For more Canadian and international news, visit 365Gay.com.
---
"Give us marriage or give us death:
Slay the beast of homophobia!"
-Zeke Krahlin, Chief Thracian
http://surf.to/gaybible