Valerie Hoffman Quoted in Law360 Article
"House Dems Push Obama To Outlaw LGBT Bias In Contracting"

Seyfarth Shaw Chicago Labor & Employment partner Valerie Hoffman was quoted in a Law360 article on April 4. The article discussed how more than 70 Democrats urged President Obama to adopt an executive order prohibiting federal contractors from discriminating against employees based on their sexual orientation or gender identity. While it is prohibited in many states, such discrimination is not a federal offense. According to a letter organized by Reps. Frank Pallone, D-N.J., Barney Frank, D-Mass., and Lois Capps, D-Calif., it is still legal in 29 states to fire someone solely based on gender. The letter said that according to the Williams Institute at the UCLA School of Law, the requested executive order would protect more than 16 million federal contractor employees from employment discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.

"An executive order would be an attractive proposition to Democrats, who have struggled with political barriers in moving their employment policy goals through Congress," said Valerie. She added, "the lawmakers could have cause for optimism, because the president's previous directives show a focus on employment issues."

"We see it in the area of disability, we see it in the area of veterans' employment, we see it in the area of pay equity as well," Valerie said. "The executive branch has been very clear about its desire to move the agenda ahead in each of these areas. It's also been clear that this administration is interested in expanding rights and protections against discrimination based on sexual orientation."

Valerie also noted that many contractors and many large employers already have significant policies prohibiting employment discrimination based on sexual orientation.