What is the Employment Non-Discrimination Act?
The Employment Nondiscrimination Act (ENDA)is a bill that has been proposed repeatedly since 1993 but not yet enacted by Congress. ENDA would, in effect, include sexual orientation in the group of characteristics that Title VII already makes off limits as the basis for the terms and conditions of employment. More specifically, ENDA would forbid employers from discriminating on the basis of sexual orientation with regard to hiring, firing, and terms of employment; forbid retaliatory conduct; and be enforced by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. ENDA would adopt the basic disparate treatment framework developed under Title VII, but would exclude religious organizations and the military from its coverage. It would not allow disparate impact claims or affirmative action, and would not require the provision of employee benefits to domestic partners. When ENDA is adopted, equal employment opportunitywithout regard to sexual orientationwill become the law of the land.
