Dive Brief:
- The National Hockey League’s Chicago Blackhawks unlawfully fired a former employee because of his sexual orientation and in retaliation for complaining about sexual-orientation discrimination, a filing in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois alleged Aug. 14.
- According to the complaint in Filomena v. Chicago Blackhawk Hockey Team, Inc., the plaintiff is an openly gay man who claimed his firing followed his participation in a media interview in which he discussed his sexual orientation. The plaintiff alleged that he was reprimanded despite obtaining permission to participate in the interview and that, after he complained about this, the Blackhawks terminated him.
- The plaintiff alleged that the team’s conduct violated Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, further claiming that its proffered reason for the firing was false and pretextual. The Blackhawks did not respond to a request for comment submitted via the team’s online contact form.
Dive Insight:
More than half a decade after the U.S. Supreme Court held that Title VII prohibits employment discrimination on the basis of a worker’s sexual orientation or gender identity, the contours of that decision are now being shaped in the nation’s lower courts. Subsequent lawsuits alleging LGBTQ+ status discrimination have touched upon a variety of topics, including misgendering, employer coverage of gender-affirming care and harassment.
The plaintiff in Filomena claimed that he was fired after participating in a 2024 interview with LGBTQ+ sports outlet Outsports. In that story, the plaintiff, a public relations manager, discussed his experience joining the Blackhawks and how it helped him rediscover his passion for sports. He also discussed interviewing for a job with the team in the aftermath of a sexual assault scandal involving a former Blackhawks coach.
Approximately one month prior to the publication of the story, Outsports quoted the plaintiff in an article about the Blackhawks’ Pride Night event. After the plaintiff was fired, he told Outsports that he was considering legal action against the team; the Blackhawks reportedly told Outsports that the plaintiff’s sexual orientation did not factor into the team’s decision and that he had instead been fired for insubordination.
Per the complaint, the Blackhawks’ termination letter said that he lacked authorization to conduct the interview with Outsports. But the plaintiff claimed that he had received approval from the team’s chairman and CEO. He also alleged that similarly situated employees who engaged in comparable conduct were not terminated.
The Supreme Court’s 2020 decision in Bostock v. Clayton County, Ga. clarified what protections LGBTQ+ workers have under Title VII, and employers must ensure their training protocols and policies clearly show what the law prohibits in the workplace, an attorney previously told HR Dive.