The House Committee on Government Reform has passed by
voice vote a bill introduced by Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif.,
intended to “affirm that federal employees are protected
from discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and
to repudiate any assertion to the contrary.”
The Clarification of Federal Employment Protections Act,
would amend federal law to prohibit any federal employee
who has authority to take, direct others to take, recommend,
or approve any personnel action, from discriminating for or
against any federal employee or applicant for federal
employment on the basis of sexual orientation.
The bill would amend U.S. code by adding “on the basis of
sexual orientation,” at the end of a subparagraph listing
groups specifically protected under federal law, to
establish sexual orientation as a class status.
Scott Bloch, head of the Office of Special Counsel, which
investigates merit systems violations in federal agencies,
testified before a Senate Committee in May that his office
was legally limited — by the Civil Service Reform Act of
1978 — in protecting employees from discrimination based
on sexual orientation.
CSRA does prohibit discrimination on the basis of “conduct”
that does not adversely affect the performance of the
applicant or employee, which the Office of Personnel
Management has taken to include discrimination based on
sexual orientation.
“The courts have specifically rejected sexual orientation
as a status protection under our statutes,” Bloch told the
Senate.
