Labor & Employment Law

UPDATE: House Passes Employment Non-Discrimination Act

The House of Representatives passed the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) yesterday by a vote of 235 to 184. As stated in a previous post here, ENDA would ban employment discrimination based on an individual's sexual orientation although the version of the Bill passed by the House, H.R. 3685, does not include protections for transgendered individuals. The lead sponsor of ENDA, Representative Barney Frank (D-Mass), had originally introduced a Bill containing language explicitly including protections for transgendered individuals, however, later abandoned it due to bi-partisan opposition.

Below is the speech Rep. Frank gave in support of ENDA from the House floor yesterday:

Senator Edward Kennedy (D-Mass) announced he is planning to introduce ENDA in the Senate in the near future. Senator Kennedy has not indicated whether his version of ENDA will include the gender-identity provisions that causes so much controversy in the House.

Regardless of which version is introduced in the Senate, ENDA will almost certainly not become law as President Bush has indicated that he will veto either version of ENDA.

Even in the unlikely event that ENDA would become law, it would have little impact on California employers as discrimination based on an employee's sexual orientation is already prohibited. Click here for a DFEH publication briefly describing an employer's obligations under California law.

Full post as published by California Labor & Employment Defense Blog on November 09, 2007 (boomark / email).