AG Jeff Landry blocks state contracts that include language LGBT inclusion
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| English: Jeff Landry, member of the United States House of Representatives. (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry has blocked at least 37 state government legal contracts because they include language meant to protect gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people from discrimination in the workplace, according to state documents and interviews with state officials.
The contracts affect legal issues surrounding the state's ports, potential medical malpractice awards for patients and oversight of state bonds, among others, according to a review of documents and talks with the agencies involved.
The Louisiana Division of Administration -- part of Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards' administration -- said it has tracked at least 26 contracts with private lawyers for a variety of services that Landry rejected because of the nondiscrimination clause. The Department of Insurance -- which is run by Republican Insurance Commissioner Jim Donelon -- submitted 11 legal contracts the attorney general has also blocked because of the nondiscrimination language.
The contracts require lawyers not to judge people's workplace performance based on their sexual orientation and gender identity in addition to other characteristics like race, religious and political affiliation. The administration maintains that all state contracts must include such language in order to comply with Edwards' executive order prohibiting state government discrimination against the LGBT community, which he issued last April.
But Landry, in rejecting the contracts, has argued he believes Edwards cannot require nondiscrimination language affecting LGBT people because they aren't protected under state law. Landry's office made this argument when it blocked a contract submitted by the Louisiana Economic Development agency, records show.
"The Attorney General requires antidiscrimination clauses in legal contracts to be written in conformity with State and Federal law, therefore, these provisions should not contain language exceeding what the law requires," Landry's office wrote.
Many state agencies believe they have to include the sexual orientation and gender identity language to abide by the governor's order. But that same language is why the attorney general won't approve the arrangements -- leaving them in limbo.
The governor's office believes Landry has rejected all state legal contracts that have been sent to him since the middle of August, mostly because of objections to the LGBT protections included, according to Matthew Block, general counsel for the Edwards' administration.
But it isn't just contracts that go through the governor's office that are affected. They also include contracts for the Department of Insurance run by Donelon -- a Republican statewide elected official who is independent from the governor's administration -- as well as the state bond commission, run by Republican State Treasurer John Kennedy, also elected independently of Edwards.
It's hard to determine exactly how government services are being affected by Landry's rejection of these contracts, since the Division of Administration has not released a full list of the contracts under dispute to NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune.
"We have a lot of things that need to get attended to and we need to have people doing their work," Block said Tuesday (Sept. 27). "I have law firms not getting paid for the working that they are doing. I have law firms that are waiting around to start work."
Gov. John Bel Edwards has issued an executive order that protects transgender people from discrimination by state government for the first time ever.
Landry's office has not responded to calls and emails this week asking for a comment on the blocked contracts. But in rejecting the contract for the Louisiana Economic Development department, Landry referenced an opinion he issued last May in which he asserted that Edwards' executive order prohibiting LGBT discrimination could not be enforced legally.
The attorney general said the governor's executive order was null and void because the Louisiana Legislature had refused to pass state laws that would provide similar protections to the LGBT community.
Edwards is not the first to offer protections to the lesbian and gay community through an executive order. Then Democratic Governors Edwin Edwards and Kathleen Blanco provided similar protections for gay people when they were in office, also via executive orders. Edwards has taken those protections and also extended them to transgender people.
The protections in those executive orders were allowed to expire by Republican Governors Mike Foster and Bobby Jindal, who did not issue their own executive orders to extend the provisions.
John Bel Edwards' executive order also mirrors an order President Barack Obama has in place at the federal level. All current federal contractors must agree to prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity as well.
Edwards has made room for religious exemptions in his executive order. Religious organizations -- including the Catholic church -- that work with the state do not have to abide by the LGBT protections if it would violate their religious beliefs.
Attorney General Jeff Landry can't declare Edwards' LGBT executive order null and void simply by releasing a legal opinion. But it could be used as the basis of a lawsuit.
The Edwards administration maintains that Landry might have overstepped his authority by rejecting the legal contracts.
The Louisiana Bar Association, asked about the issue, did not directly criticize Landry, but explained that the attorney general is only supposed to make sure the lawyers involved in the contracts are considered qualified for the work. Other aspects of the contract aren't supposed to be taken into consideration.
"Louisiana law gives the attorney general the authority to ensure that private attorneys appointed to represent the state meet certain written minimum qualifications that are published annually in the Louisiana Bar Journal," wrote Darrel Papillion, president of the bar association, in an email.
"The relevant qualifications generally include the attorney's legal rating, years in practice, whether the lawyer is admitted to practice in a particular court, and whether the lawyer has professional liability insurance," he wrote.
Terry Ryder, who worked as a lawyer for Blanco, Foster and Jindal, said he thought Edwards was "pushing the envelope" with his executive order, but that the law was probably on his side.
If Landry and Edwards took the matter to the Louisiana Supreme Court, Ryder said he would expect Edwards to win. The governor can issue such a directive to state agencies, especially since he has included an exception for religious groups, he said.
"The governor is the chief executive officer of the state, not the attorney general," Ryder said, later adding: "One of them is the governor, and the other one wants to be the governor."
The Edwards administration and Landry are expected to meet Friday to work out their differences over these legal contracts, as well as several other issues, officials said.
Block said he had met with Landry's office over this issue once before. The Edwards administration thought they had come to an agreement with Landry over the LGBT nondiscrimination language in the middle of August -- and the contracts started to move forward -- but then Landry started blocking contracts again over the nondiscrimination clause later that month.
The attorney general hasn't necessarily been consistent on this issue. Until a few weeks ago, Landry's office was still letting some contracts with the LGBT clause through, and rejecting others, according to Block. But the attorney general hasn't explained why some contracts get approved and others don't, Block said.
Landry is also blocking legal contracts for other reasons that have gotten a lot more media attention. He has rejected the governor's proposed legal team for suing the oil and gas industry because he thinks the fee structure is too generous and possibly illegal. Another contract that involves a lawyer convicted of a felony has been turned down.
But as a practical matter, most law firms seeking work with the state government may not be put off by agreeing to a LGBT nondiscrimination clause. The Louisiana State Bar Association adopted a resolution encouraging protections and inclusive policies for the LGBT community this summer. It also has an "LGBT Diversity" subcommittee.
