Statement from AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler on the Supreme Court’s ruling in 303 Creative LLC v. Elenis:
Today’s ruling by the Supreme Court is a disgrace. In the name of “free expression,” a radical majority has effectively decimated the nation’s anti-discrimination laws. The achievements of decades of struggle on our streets—true exercises of First Amendment rights—have been decimated by a radical conservative majority on the Supreme Court that today gave businesses a road map for how to evade anti-discrimination laws.
Just as the court used freedom of contract to strike down protective labor laws a century ago, today’s court is using the First Amendment to strip LGBTQ+ people and the most vulnerable citizens in our society of protection. As Justice Sonia Sotomayor writes in dissent: “Today, the Court, for the first time in its history, grants a business open to the public a constitutional right to refuse to serve members of a protected class.”
This is a sad day for the court, but the struggle for justice that led to the passage of our anti-discrimination laws will continue. Unions are one of the best tools we have to fight back against discrimination, and we remain committed to expanding access to collective bargaining so that all working people can benefit from equal protection. Even as this court seems bent on obliterating our fundamental freedoms and hard-won progress, working people will not go backward.
Contact: Danielle Noel, 202-637-5018