A great resource has been posted online for employers, lawyers, and anyone interested in a compendium of all state laws regarding gay and transgender employees. Written by Jerome Hunt and just released by the Center for American Progress Action Fund, this 84-page report notes that there is no current federal law which provides the gay and transgender workforce protections against workplace discrimination based on real or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity.
And Congress has yet to pass the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, or ENDA, which would apply to all federal, state, and local government agencies; employment agencies; unions; and private employers with 15 or more employees.
The report further notes (as we have discussed in frequent blog entries) that “Sixteen states and Washington, D.C. have passed laws that prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity. An additional five states have passed laws or enacted policies that prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, but not gender identity.”
After this preface, the report catalogues which states have such laws, ranks the state laws as to the degree of protection afforded to gay and transgender employees, and recites the remedies and penalties under each law.
This could become an indispensable tool in employment law.