A federal appeals court in Chicago ruled that discrimination against a worker based on his or her sexual orientation is not prohibited by federal law. This decision, which rejects the EEOC's position, was the first to be handed down by a federal circuit court since the EEOC took the position in July 2015 that discrimination based on sexual orientation is discrimination based on sex and violates Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. The three-judge panel of the appeals court said a long line of circuit precedent rejecting recognition of sexual-orientation bias claims under Title VII and congressional inaction on efforts to amend federal law to include bias protections for gay workers was a binding factor in their decision.
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