1/31/2024 0 Comments Dont have wv easy pass yet“I did not feel safe trusting an openly anti-LGBTQ attorney general to protect my interest in the case, which is what motivated my search to find someone to champion my cause,” Livingood said.Ī spokesperson for Morrisey didn’t return a request for comment. Morrisey has a history of supporting anti-transgender litigation, both involving the state of West Virginia and otherwise. The state attorney general’s Civil Rights Division submitted a letter calling such a move illegal.Īnd had Livingood not been able to retain the services of Mountain State Justice, he would have been assigned an attorney from Attorney General Patrick Morrisey’s office. Jim Justice, who has been a vocal proponent of a law prohibiting transgender athletes from participating in school sports teams consistent with their gender identity.īecause the public defender office submitted their appeal late, it’s unlikely the Human Rights Commission would allow their challenge in Livingood’s case to stand. All of the judges were just appointed by Gov. In Justice’s State of the State, lip service but few substantive proposals for WV’s biggest challengesīeginning in July, there’s another political layer: the newly-established intermediate appeals court, which will handle appeals of decisions made by the commissioners. And moreover, if that judge’s decision is appealed, the commissioners are the ones who will rule. “The makeup of the Human Rights Commission can change at any time, and their interpretations of the law can change at any time,” said Andrew Schneider, director of the LGBTQ advocacy group Fairness West Virginia.Ī different group of commissioners could appoint a different judge who might come to a different conclusion about whether LGBTQ rights are protected under the Human Rights Act. The commission is made up of nine political appointees who serve three- to four-year terms. The judge who decided Livingood’s case was appointed by the executive director of West Virginia’s Human Rights Commission, the office that oversees the implementation of civil rights laws prohibiting discrimination in employment, housing and public accommodation. But, like any legal decision, it could be reversed at some point. In the face of their inaction, the legal precedent set by Livingood’s victory is an important step forward for LGBTQ West Virginians. Year after year, despite pressure from LGBTQ and other civil rights groups, West Virginia lawmakers have declined to write protections against gender and sexual identity discrimination into the state’s civil rights code. But assuming Judge Gregory Evers’ ruling stands, it’s a tenuous victory: subject to the whims of the appointed Human Rights Commission, and at risk of being rolled back by state lawmakers, who have already introduced numerous bills this session that could erode the progress. The public defender’s office appealed the ruling after the deadline to do so, and the commission hasn’t yet ruled on whether they’ll consider the late appeal. “It surprised me, in a good way,” Livingood said of the decision. Whoops! There was an error and we couldn't process your subscription. But the judge’s interpretation of West Virginia civil rights laws also established a remarkable legal precedent: that West Virginia’s Human Rights Act protects people discriminated against on the basis of their sexual orientation or gender identity. In response, the 5th Judicial Circuit’s Public Defender’s Office argued in court filings that Livingood was underqualified for the position and stated transgender people “are not a protected class under West Virginia’s Human Rights Act.” When asked to comment on this story, the circuit’s Chief Public Defender, Kevin Postalwait, denied that the office discriminates on any basis in its hiring decisions.Īfter a three-year legal battle, the judge has ruled that the public defender’s office was wrong on both counts, and that they did in fact discriminate against Livingood when they didn’t hire him. He submitted a handwritten complaint to West Virginia’s Human Rights Commission. “To be turned away from a job on a basis other than my qualifications, that just struck me as a gross injustice.” “I began to notice as a masculine woman named Robb, that I would encounter various kinds of discrimination - I was called a transgender slur during a different job interview,“ Livingood said.
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