On November 24, the Court of Appeals of Tennessee at Jackson, reversing a ruling by the Shelby County Circuit Court, revived a tort action by a former employee of a drugstore who claims that her right of privacy concerning her HIV status was improperly violated by co-workers and a supervisor. Doe v. Walgreens Company, No. W2009-02235-COA-R3-CV.
The Jane Doe plaintiff worked as a pharmacy technician at a Walgreens store in Memphis, where her direct supervisor … <Read More>
On December 14, a panel of the Court of Appeals of Washington, Division 3, determined several legal issues raised by the termination of the long-term relationship of Jeremy R. Long and Dr. David R. Fregeau. In re the Meretricious Relationship of Long & Fregeau, 2010 Westlaw 5071860. One of the things the court did at the beginning of its decision was to, in effect, correct the title of the case. Although the Washington state common law … <Read More>
On December 9, the New Jersey Appellate Division affirmed a decision by the Civil Service Commission approving the demotion of a Middlesex County Corrections Officer from the rank of lieutenant to sergant because of his "repeated offensive remarks" to a subordinate officer "based on her sexual orientation." In the Matter of Pedro Delgado, 2010 Westlaw 4977101.
In New Jersey, discrimination on account of sexual orientation violates the state's law against discrimination, and civil rights laws of … <Read More>
A Texas appeals court has rejected a gay man's argument that his felony conviction and 25-year-sentence for beating up his boyfriend under a "dating relationship" anti-violence statute violates the federal constitution. Ruling unanimously in Ochoa v. State of Texas, 2010 WL 1910900 (Tex.App.-Hous., 1st Dist., Dec. 2, 2010), the court found that the statute unambiguously applied to same-sex dating relationships, and that the concept of a dating relationship was sufficiently described in the statute to … <Read More>
Oral argument in Perry v. Schwarzenegger, the case challenging the constitutionality of California Proposition 8, which was enacted in 2008 and then declared unconstitutional earlier this year by U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker, see 704 F.Supp.2d 921 (N.D.Cal., Aug. 4, 2010), will be held in San Francisco on December 6, beginning at 10 am local (Pacific Coast) time. The three-judge panel announced for the argument consists of Judges Stephen Reinhardt, Michael Daly Hawkins, and N. … <Read More>
In what may be a heartbreaking miscarriage of justice, last week a unanimous panel of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals rejected an asylum appeal by a woman from Colombia, a lesbian, who claims to have been raped by military personnel in her home country. As is frequently the case in these asylum appeals, the court issued a brief unpublished opinion that does not go into very much detail, and makes it difficult to judge … <Read More>
On August 28, 2009, Suffolk County Police officers and some officers of the Town of Babylon staged a raid on Zodiac Lounge, a gay bar run by Felice Rubino in the Town of Babylon, New York, on Long Island. During the raid, according to Rubino, the "Town Enforcer," John Farrell, referred to Rubino as a "gay bastard" and allegedly said to him, "gay issue or not, if you fuck with the Town, the Town will … <Read More>
With our dysfunctional legislature and the longtime disproportionate influence of certain religious lobbies, New York State has the dubious distinction of a body of archaic family law statutes that are clearly out of synch with the situation "on the ground" affecting how people actually live in the 21st century. The New York Law Journal brought to light this week a decision rendered on October 22 by Suffolk County Supreme Court Justice Peter Fox Cohalan that … <Read More>
A unanimous panel of the New York Appellate Division, 4th Department, has ruled that a gay Onondaga County probation officer is entitled to enforcement of the State Division of Human Rights order that he be reinstated to a supervisory position and awarded $43,000 as compensatory damages for his lost wages and mental anguish as a result of discriminatory action against him by the County Department of Probation. County of Onondaga v. Mayock & N.Y. State … <Read More>
Early challenges to the constitutionality of the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) were all unsuccessful. The Act, passed in 1996, provides that no state is required to recognize same-sex marriages contracted in another state (Section 2), and that no federal law may be interpreted to recognize same-sex marriages (Section 3). The new strategy focuses on Section 3, and narrowly targets its specific applications rather than launching a broadside facial challenge to the statute.
The … <Read More>