DOJ files complaint challenging North Carolina HB2 News
DOJ files complaint challenging North Carolina HB2

The US Department of Justice (DOJ) [official website] filed a lawsuit [complaint, PDF] Monday challenging North Carolina’s controversial House Bill 2 [text, PDF]. The DOJ alleges that North Carolina is discriminating against transgender individuals in violation of federal law. The complaint, filed in the US District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina [official website], comes after the DOJ advised Governor Pat McCrory [JURIST report] last week that the law violates the Civil Rights Act of 1964, giving him until Monday to remedy the violations. According to the complaint:

Defendants State of North Carolina and Governor McCrory have engaged in a pattern or practice of resistance to the full enjoyment of employment rights under Title VII by implementing and requiring compliance with policies and practices that require public agencies to discriminate against their transgender employees based on sex in the terms, conditions, and privileges of employment in violation of Title VII.

The lawsuit came just hours after McCrory filed a complaint for declaratory judgment [JURIST report] asking the federal court to weigh in on the legality of HB2, calling it a “national issue.”

North Carolina’s “bathroom bill” has generated significant controversy. In March North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper stated during a press conference that he would not defend [JURIST report] HB2, which he considers to be discriminatory. Earlier that week North Carolina individuals and civil rights groups filed a lawsuit [JURIST report] against McCrory, claiming that the bill he signed one week prior was unconstitutional and discriminatory. Earlier that month the North Carolina governor signed the bill into law [JURIST report], preventing local governments from enacting their own nondiscrimination ordinances and making them unable to pass laws allowing transgender people to use the public restroom or locker room that corresponds with their gender identity. Last month McCrory issued an executive order [JURIST report] that he said was meant to clarify the controversial bill.

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