By David E. Worley

In Derr v. Kern Cnty. Fire Dep’t, 117 FEP Cases 29 (Cal. Ct. App. 2013), the court affirmed the dismissal of claims of retaliation and discrimination of a firefighter who was subject to a hostile work environment at the hands of his supervisor who harbored staunchly homophobic views.  The plaintiff, who has a homosexual daughter, claimed his supervisor continually harassed him, and even after their shifts were changed, the supervisor went out of his way to find the plaintiff and make harassing comments to him.  While the court found that no adverse employment action occurred that would support the claims of discrimination and retaliation, the plaintiff had made a clear case of workplace harassment.  [Read more…]

By Kate Acheson

When a heterosexual delivery truck driver sued for being called “Big Gay Al” at work, the Washington State Court of Appeals found, in Davis v. Fred’s Appliance Inc.,that the perception of homosexuality is not protected by Washington’s law against discrimination (“WLAD”), RCW 49.60.

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By Kate Acheson

In Loeffelholz v. University of Washington, an asbestos office program coordinator at the University of Washington, Debra Loeffelholz, alleged that James Lukehart, her supervisor from 2003 to early 2006, discriminated against her based on her sexual orientation.  Loeffelholz claimed the sexual-orientation-based discrimination created a hostile work environment.  Upon review, the State Supreme Court found that Loeffelholz’s claims before the enactment of the amendment adding sexual orientation as a protected class in Washington were unrecoverable because the amendment is not retroactive.  However, the Court also found that a jury must resolve the questions of fact arising from the last, potentially post-amendment incident.

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