The U.S. Supreme Court last month settled one of the biggest questions in employment law in recent years, ruling that Title VII of the 1964 Civil Right Act prohibits employment discrimination on the basis of both sexual orientation and gender identity.

The decision in Bostock v. Clayton County, Georgia, was a historic moment for individuals in the LGBTQ community and for their employers. While some workplace policies are certain to change in the coming months, sources who spoke to HR Dive emphasized that many of the ruling's outcomes may not be known for some time.

"It opens up a bunch of interesting things," David Flugman, partner at Selendy & Gay PLLC whose public interest practice is focused in part on advancing LGBTQ rights, told HR Dive in an interview. Title VII's mandate prohibiting employers from taking adverse employment actions or conditions of employment against an employee on the basis of protected characteristics is broad, Flugman said, which means the high court's order could impact any of several conditions of employment. "A lot of things could potentially fall under that ruling."

Likely points of discussion for HR‍

Some organizational policies are more likely than others to require attention in light of Bostock, however. Employers operating in cities and states that do not already have local protections against sexual orientation- and gender identity-based employment discrimination will need to ensure their policies and practices include such protections clearly, Jason Habinsky, partner at Haynes and Boone, told HR Dive in an email. "It follows that employers must also take all steps to enforce these protections, including updated training for supervisors and employees, as well as promptly investigating and soundly disciplining any violations on these bases," Habinsky added.

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