Section 7

Citation: Section 7
Parent Document: Bostock v. Clayton County, 590 U.S. 644 (2020)
Jurisdiction: United States (federal)
Effective Date: 2020-06-15
Original Source: https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/4760997/bostock-v-clayton-county/ ↗

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of defense for all failing statutory interpretation argu-
ments: naked policy appeals. If we were to apply the stat-
ute’s plain language, they complain, any number of unde-
sirable policy consequences would follow. Cf. post, at 44–54
(ALITO, J., dissenting). Gone here is any pretense of statu-
tory interpretation; all that’s left is a suggestion we should
proceed without the law’s guidance to do as we think best.
But that’s an invitation no court should ever take up. The
place to make new legislation, or address unwanted conse-
quences of old legislation, lies in Congress. When it comes
to statutory interpretation, our role is limited to applying
the law’s demands as faithfully as we can in the cases that
come before us. As judges we possess no special expertise
or authority to declare for ourselves what a self-governing
people should consider just or wise. And the same judicial
humility that requires us to refrain from adding to statutes
requires us to refrain from diminishing them.
  What are these consequences anyway? The employers
worry that our decision will sweep beyond Title VII to other
federal or state laws that prohibit sex discrimination. And,
under Title VII itself, they say sex-segregated bathrooms,
locker rooms, and dress codes will prove unsustainable af-
ter our decision today. But none of these other laws are
before us; we have not had the benefit of adversarial testing
about the meaning of their terms, and we do not prejudge
any such question today. Under Title VII, too, we do not
purport to address bathrooms, locker rooms, or anything
else of the kind. The only question before us is whether an
employer who fires someone simply for being homosexual
or transgender has discharged or otherwise discriminated
against that individual “because of such individual’s sex.”
As used in Title VII, the term “ ‘discriminate against’ ” refers
to “distinctions or differences in treatment that injure pro-
tected individuals.” Burlington N. & S. F. R., 548 U. S., at
59. Firing employees because of a statutorily protected
trait surely counts. Whether other policies and practices
32             BOSTOCK v. CLAYTON COUNTY Opinion of the Court

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