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June 13, 2023
The Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act (ELCRA), passed in 1976, prohibits discrimination based on an individual’s religion, race, color, national origin, age, sex, height, weight, familial status, or marital status. Effective June 14, 2023, Michigan has added sexual orientation and gender identity or expression as categories protected from discrimination.
The Act defines gender identity or expression as “having or being perceived as having a gender-related self-identity or expression, whether or not associated with an individual’s assigned sex at birth,” The Act defines sexual orientation as “having an orientation for heterosexuality, homosexuality, or bisexuality or having a history of such an orientation or being identified with such an orientation.”
This amendment codifies the 2020 decision in Bostok v. Clayton County, where the United States Supreme Court held that discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity is necessarily also discrimination “because of sex” as prohibited by Title VII, as well as the 2022 decision in Rouch World, LLC v. Michigan Department of Civil Rights, where the Michigan Supreme Court held that discrimination based on sexual orientation qualifies as discrimination because of sex.
Michigan employers should update their policies and handbooks to reflect these changes and ensure that their managers are trained on the amendments.
*Special thanks to Brooke Palma, our Office Administrator, for her contributions to this article.
The author of this article, Patricia Tsipras, is a member of the Bar of Pennsylvania. This article is designed to provide one perspective regarding recent legal developments, and is not intended to serve as legal advice in Michigan, or Pennsylvania, or any other jurisdiction, nor does it establish an attorney-client relationship with any reader of the article where one does not exist. Always consult an attorney with specific legal issues.
