Apple Google Microsoft Others Urge Supreme Court To Hear Gay Rights Case

Apple is one of a number of major companies urging the U.S. Supreme Court to hear a case of alleged employment discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation …

The amicus brief – a submission by parties not directly involved in a case – argues that allowing organizations to discriminate against gay and lesbian employees is harmful to staff, businesses and the U.S. economy.

The WSJ reports that the brief was filed after an earlier appeals court ruled against a lesbian employee.

Apple, Airbnb, American Airlines, BASF, Deutsche Bank, Google, Facebook, Levi Strauss, Microsoft, MasterCard , Salesforce, Uber and other companies signed the brief arguing against the ruling.

Conflicting rulings by lower courts seem to suggest that the matter will at some point need to be settled by the Supreme Court.

Back in 2014, Apple CEO Tim Cook was the first CEO of a major company to come out as openly gay, stating that although he considered his sexuality a private matter, he had to consider the opportunity he had to help others by speaking out.