Protected

HRManager

Are gay people protected in any way? If we decide to terminate because of not having sufficient work do we risk a law suit?

Margaret Morford

There is currently no federal law protecting sexual orientation, but many states and local municipalities have laws protecting homosexual and lesbian employees from discrimination. Regardless of these laws or of an employee being in a protected class, you can lay anyone off from work if the employees are selected in a non-discriminary way.

Margaet Morford
theHRedge

HRManager

Thanks so much for getting back to me so quickly. This is what I thought, it just helped to hear it from someone who knows.

HRManager

Margaret, do you know of any Minnesota laws that could affect this.

Margaret Morford

I am not familar with Minnesota state laws. You need to ask an attorney that specializes in employment law in Minnesota. If you do not have one, please call me at 615-371-8200 and I'll be glad to refer you to a good one.

Margaret Morford
theHRedge

Down_the_Middle

Your risk of having a lawsuit always exists and some states/cities/local jurisdictions have laws that protect sexual preference. The bigger issue is having the documentation to justify this position elimination w/o regard to age, race, sex, sexual preference, etc....... If you're comfortable that the position disappears due to lack of work, then you s/b ok. You might still incur a lawsuit, but you'll be able to defend it alot easier with the documentation done ahead of time.

rexxie

You do need to know what your state/city/municipal laws are. I came from Chicago and their CRA now encompasses sexual orientation--so find out what you're up against, just in case.

Having been involved in layoffs many times, you want to insure you have appropriate documentation as to why you're laying off and how you chose the individual(s). If it's LIFO, that's usually easy. If it's more complicated i.e. there are others with less seniority and you could be shifting this individual(s) to that job and laying off the less senior individual, make sure your case supports what/why you're doing this.

Also, to be on the safe side, don't ever refer to the individual as gay in print or during verbal conversations with other. You'll be giving away the store if you do!

Good luck.