Wichita, KS. (August 27, 2020) - Last Friday, August 21, 2020, the Kansas Human Rights Commission (KHRC) Board met to consider the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Bostock v. Clayton Cty., 140 S. Ct. 1731, 1734 (2020) and its impact on the KHRC's interpretation of the Kansas Act Against Discrimination (KAAD).
In Bostock, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that "when an employer fires an employee for being homosexual or transgender, it necessarily and intentionally discriminates against that individual in part because of sex" and "an employer who fires an individual merely for being gay or transgender defies the law." (Learn more about the Bostock decision in our previous alert "'The Answer is Clear': U.S. Supreme Court Outlaws LGBTQ+ Employment Discrimination. What's Next?" from June 15, 2020.)
Effective August 21, 2020, the KHRC will begin accepting complaints of sex discrimination in employment, housing, and public accommodations wherein allegations include discrimination based on LGBTQ and all derivatives of "sex."
The KHRC has advised that a guidance document will be forthcoming, which will state that the KAAD's employment, housing, and public accommodation anti-discrimination provisions for "sex" are inclusive of LGBTQ and all derivates of "sex." The guidance will be posted to the Commission's website at www.khrc.net in the following weeks.
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