Overview
(May 17, 2022, Washington, DC) — Steptoe & Johnson LLP is pleased to announce that the firm, in partnership with the Human Rights Campaign Foundation—the educational arm of the nation's largest lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ+) civil rights organization—filed an amicus brief before the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit on behalf of a group of diverse businesses. The case, Carpenter v. James, involves a wedding photographer in New York who is effectively seeking permission to turn away same-sex couples and to advertise that she will not provide services to same-sex weddings. The argument before the Court addresses the scope of protections against discrimination for LGBTQ+ patrons seeking goods or services under New York State Human Rights Law and Civil Rights Law.
On behalf of a number of prominent businesses, Steptoe and the HRC Foundation argue in the amicus brief that the plaintiffs' proposed speech-based exemptions to the non-discrimination laws are overly broad and difficult to predict. The brief also points out that plaintiffs' position would create confusion in the marketplace and disrupt businesses' operations. Additionally, the brief highlights that creating expansive new speech- and religious-based exemptions would create holes in non-discrimination laws that may subject many businesses' employees to discrimination both inside and outside the workplace.
This amicus brief on behalf of businesses is similar to briefs filed in other federal cases about LGBTQ+ rights, including Masterpiece Cakeshop in the Supreme Court of the United States, which involved a cake store in Colorado that refused to serve same-sex couples on the basis of religious exemptions. The Supreme Court there ruled that the state of Colorado's enforcement of its civil rights law was flawed, while reaffirming that LGBTQ+ Americans should not face discrimination in the provision of goods and services and state law may continue to prohibit such discrimination.
The Steptoe team that worked on the brief included partner Patricia Palacios, of counsel Mark Murphy, and associates Daniele Arad-Neeman and Azar Alexander.
About Steptoe
In more than 100 years of practice, Steptoe has earned an international reputation for vigorous representation of clients before governmental agencies, successful advocacy in litigation and arbitration, and creative and practical advice in structuring business transactions. Steptoe has more than 500 lawyers and other professional staff across offices in Beijing, Brussels, Chicago, Hong Kong, London, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, and Washington. For more information, visit www.steptoe.com.
The diversity of the firm is a critical factor in its success. The firm’s Chair is a woman; the majority of Steptoe's nine offices are managed by women; the majority of Steptoe’s practice groups have women as leaders; and the firm’s twelve-person elected compensation committee is headed by a woman and includes five women as members. The firm's eight-person professional business services leadership is equally diverse, with half the c-suite made up of women, including three women of color, and other leaders who openly identify as LGBTQ+.
