Yet More Proof Why ENDA is Needed

A Tennessee hotelier has fired a second gay man after previously firing an employee specifically for being gay and then daring the man to try to sue him. Sadly, Tennessee - like Virginia - offers ZERO employment protections to LGBT workers and one is a sitting duck for blatant bigotry regardless of whether or not you perform your employment duties well. The quickest way to remedy this situation is for the passage of ENDA - the Employment Non-discrimination Act - which would outlaw such firings for businesses with 15 or more employees. In time, one would hope that such a law would eventually encourage backward states like Tennessee and Virginia to join the 21st century and enact their own employment protections for LGBT workers. Here are some highlights from PageOneQ:

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A Tennessee man said Thursday that he was weighing his legal options after being fired from a Nashville-area hotel specifically for being gay. "They literally said to me that because of my orientation and my 'alternative lifestyle' that I was not a fit for the hotel," said David Hill, formerly the director of human resources for the former Brentwood Holiday Inn (currently doing business as ARTE' Hotel, with no connection to the Holiday Inn chain). "[Tarun Surti, the hotel's owner] said, 'I don't give a damn. They can sue me. I will not have any of 'the gay leadership role' in my hotel.' And that's a quote."

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"The owner, Mr. Surti, comes from a culture that is not very tolerant to the gay lifestyle," added assistant general manager Leonard Stoddard, who was ordered to dismiss Hill, "and therefore he felt it necessary to have him removed from the workforce at the property."

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Workers in Tennessee are not protected by anti-discrimination law on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity. "This points to the need for us to pass the Employment Non-Discrimination Act," Tennessee Equality Project president Christopher Sanders said, "because in many places our community is not protected." "There are very talented employees who are being singled out because they're gay," he added. "These employees are very brave for fighting back."

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Now, Stoddard himself has been fired:

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The firings continue at a Tennessee hotel after its assistant general manager spoke out against its owner for dismissing a man for being gay. . . . Stoddard, also openly gay, has since been given his walking papers, Out & About reported. "I am here in the office and shocked to hear what you had said to the media," Surti e-mailed Stoddard. "If it is true that you told media that David was fired because he is gay, you obviously told them a lie. Such behavior is subject to immediate termination and I would like you to restrain (sic) from coming to the hotel."

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It is alleged by Hill and Stoddard that a former employee fired for being gay sent a letter to Surti outing Hill and Stoddard. . . . A demonstration is planned outside the hotel, at 760 Old Hickory Blvd. in Brentwood, on Saturday, January 17, starting at 9am.