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"Sexual Orientation Discrimination in the Workplace | HrHero.com HR Topics." //Sexual Orientation Discrimination in the Workplace | HrHero.com HR Topics //. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Aug. 2012. 

> The Equal Pay Act, which is part of the [|Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA)] , prohibits pay discrimination because of an employee’s gender but does not apply to any other protected characteristic. It prohibits discrimination against both men and women.
 * 1) An employee can offer credible evidence that the harasser was actually motivated by sexual desire toward members of his own gender.
 * 2) An employee can offer proof of gender-specific statements from which an inference can be drawn that the harasser is motivated by general hostility to the presence of members of the same sex in the workplace.
 * 3) An employee can offer comparative evidence showing differences in how the harasser treated members of both sexes in the workplace.
 * 4) An employee can establish that the harassment was based on perceived nonconformance with gender-based stereotypes.
 * 5) While federal and some states’ discrimination laws don’t prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, that doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t be concerned with those types of discrimination issues.
 * 6) Some courts have held that “gender stereotyping” ( //e.g., // requiring certain styles of [|dress] <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: Tahoma,'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"> for men and women) can be the basis for a gender-bias lawsuit.
 * 7) <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: Tahoma,'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">Creative lawyers often try to file sexual orientation discrimination claims under a <span style="color: #0e6a9c; font-family: Tahoma,'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">[|gender discrimination] <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: Tahoma,'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"> theory. A number of those kinds of cases have arisen when an employee has gone through a sex change or attempted to live as a member of the opposite sex.
 * 8) <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: Tahoma,'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">Some employers voluntarily prohibit sexual orientation discrimination in their company policies. Some do so because they operate in states that prohibit it and want one set of policies for all workers.
 * 9) <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: Tahoma,'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"> For those employers, even if employees may not have a statutory right not to be discriminated against on the basis of their sexual orientation, they could file a claim if the company doesn’t follow its own written policy.
 * 10) <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: Tahoma,'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">A number of states and the District of Columbia have already passed legislation prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation.
 * 11) <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: Tahoma,'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">With bipartisan support, the <span style="color: #0e6a9c; font-family: Tahoma,'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">[|Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA)] <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: Tahoma,'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"> has been introduced in Congress to broaden federal employment discrimination protections to include a ban on discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. The bill would prohibit employers from making decisions about hiring, firing, promoting or compensating an employee based on sexual orientation or gender identity.
 * 12) <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: Tahoma,'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">The ENDA also prohibits preferential treatment of gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered employees as well as using quotas requiring an employer to hire a certain number of such employees. It states that lawsuits filed under the ENDA can’t be based on statistics about the sexual orientation or gender identity of employees.
 * 13) <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: Tahoma,'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">In addition, no employer is required to provide domestic partner benefits under ENDA, and the armed forces and religious organizations are exempt from the bill’s requirements, as are employers hiring based on veteran preference.
 * 14) <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: Tahoma,'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">Proponents of the ENDA said similar measures have been tried in a number of states and worked well without causing problems. Labor, business groups, and gay rights groups generally support the measure.
 * 15) <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: Tahoma,'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline;">The Business Coalition for Workplace Fairness, a group of 20 companies, including Coca-Cola, Microsoft, General Mills, and Hewlett-Packard, gave its support, stating: “Having a corporate culture that embraces <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #0e6a9c; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">[|diversity] improves the productivity of our associates, helps the company recruit the best talent, and makes us more productive.”