The Trump administration's U.S. Justice Department on Wednesday cast aside another federal agency's arguments that gay and lesbian employees should be protected from workplace sexual orientation discrimination under civil rights laws.

The government, in a friend-of-the-court brief filed in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, urged a panel of judges to reject a push to extend the scope of protection under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to include a prohibition against sexual orientation discrimination. The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission supported that protection.

“The sole question here is whether, as a matter of law, Title VII reaches sexual orientation discrimination. It does not, as has been settled for decades. Any efforts to amend Title VII's scope should be directed to Congress rather than the courts,” the Justice Department's legal team, led by Chad Readler, said in their filing Wednesday night in the New York-based federal appeals court.

The government's brief came the same day President Donald Trump tweeted about a new policy that would ban transgender people from serving in the military.  

The government's position veers from a slew briefs filed in the case in support of protecting LGBT rights as a part of federal discrimination laws. Those briefs were filed by women and gay rights groups and major corporations, such as Microsoft and Google, and also the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

Former Obama administration EEOC general counsel David Lopez said the Justice Department's action appears to be a political message.

“This is a major step backwards,” said Lopez, a partner in Outten & Golden's Washington office. “I've never heard of two government agencies in the same case take different positions. It just looks so political.”

Civil rights groups decried the Justice Department's position, crafted under the leadership of U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions.

“The Sessions-led Justice Department and the Trump administration are actively working to expose people to discrimination,” said James Esseks, director of the American Civil Liberties Union's LGBT & HIV Project, in a statement. “Fortunately, courts will decide whether the Civil Rights Act protects LGBT people, not an attorney general and a White House that are hell-bent on playing politics with people's lives. We are confident that the courts will side with equality and the people.”

The federal appeals courts that have confronted the scope of LGBT protections in the workplace have reached different positions, creating a conflict that the U.S. Supreme Court could be asked to resolve.

The en banc Second Circuit is poised to take up the dispute, for a second time, in the wake of a recent federal appeals court ruling in the Seventh Circuit that said discrimination against employees on the basis of sexual orientation violates the Civil Rights Act.

That ruling was hailed a landmark decision by gay rights advocates. A three-judge panel in the Eleventh Circuit ruled that the Civil Rights Act does not include protections for gay or bisexual employees.

In the Second Circuit case, Donald Zarda, a skydiver, filed suit against his former employer Altitude Express arguing he was fired from his job because he disclosed his sexual orientation to a client. The district court ruled for the employer and held that Title VII does not protect against discrimination based on sexual orientation.

A three-judge panel of the Second Circuit upheld the ruling. The full court's decision to rehear the case voided the panel opinion.

The EEOC said in its amicus brief that sexual orientation should fall under federal civil rights protections that do not allow discrimination against sex. The agency, charged with enforcing Title VII Civil Rights laws, said the claims against the company involve gender-based stereotyping and gender-based discrimination.

Trump has nominated Burlington Stores Inc. general counsel Janet Dhillon as chairwoman of the EEOC.

The Trump administration's U.S. Justice Department on Wednesday cast aside another federal agency's arguments that gay and lesbian employees should be protected from workplace sexual orientation discrimination under civil rights laws.

The government, in a friend-of-the-court brief filed in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, urged a panel of judges to reject a push to extend the scope of protection under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to include a prohibition against sexual orientation discrimination. The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission supported that protection.

“The sole question here is whether, as a matter of law, Title VII reaches sexual orientation discrimination. It does not, as has been settled for decades. Any efforts to amend Title VII's scope should be directed to Congress rather than the courts,” the Justice Department's legal team, led by Chad Readler, said in their filing Wednesday night in the New York-based federal appeals court.

The government's brief came the same day President Donald Trump tweeted about a new policy that would ban transgender people from serving in the military.  

The government's position veers from a slew briefs filed in the case in support of protecting LGBT rights as a part of federal discrimination laws. Those briefs were filed by women and gay rights groups and major corporations, such as Microsoft and Google, and also the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

Former Obama administration EEOC general counsel David Lopez said the Justice Department's action appears to be a political message.

“This is a major step backwards,” said Lopez, a partner in Outten & Golden's Washington office. “I've never heard of two government agencies in the same case take different positions. It just looks so political.”

Civil rights groups decried the Justice Department's position, crafted under the leadership of U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions.

“The Sessions-led Justice Department and the Trump administration are actively working to expose people to discrimination,” said James Esseks, director of the American Civil Liberties Union's LGBT & HIV Project, in a statement. “Fortunately, courts will decide whether the Civil Rights Act protects LGBT people, not an attorney general and a White House that are hell-bent on playing politics with people's lives. We are confident that the courts will side with equality and the people.”

The federal appeals courts that have confronted the scope of LGBT protections in the workplace have reached different positions, creating a conflict that the U.S. Supreme Court could be asked to resolve.

The en banc Second Circuit is poised to take up the dispute, for a second time, in the wake of a recent federal appeals court ruling in the Seventh Circuit that said discrimination against employees on the basis of sexual orientation violates the Civil Rights Act.

That ruling was hailed a landmark decision by gay rights advocates. A three-judge panel in the Eleventh Circuit ruled that the Civil Rights Act does not include protections for gay or bisexual employees.

In the Second Circuit case, Donald Zarda, a skydiver, filed suit against his former employer Altitude Express arguing he was fired from his job because he disclosed his sexual orientation to a client. The district court ruled for the employer and held that Title VII does not protect against discrimination based on sexual orientation.

A three-judge panel of the Second Circuit upheld the ruling. The full court's decision to rehear the case voided the panel opinion.

The EEOC said in its amicus brief that sexual orientation should fall under federal civil rights protections that do not allow discrimination against sex. The agency, charged with enforcing Title VII Civil Rights laws, said the claims against the company involve gender-based stereotyping and gender-based discrimination.

Trump has nominated Burlington Stores Inc. general counsel Janet Dhillon as chairwoman of the EEOC.