When asked during the Attorney General debate, Virginia AG Jason Miyares said he has a history of protecting Virginians from discrimination. But the incumbent candidate voted against a law that expanded workplace protections in 2020.
“I’ve always believed the full fabric of our community has to cross the finish line together,” Miyares said at the recent candidates' debate. He went on to praise his office’s work including an investigation into Thomas Jefferson High School’s enrollment policies and his defense of “religious liberty.”
But the “full fabric” of Virginia would not have protections enshrined into law if a vote he took in 2020 had won the day, and lawyers who file lawsuits on behalf of employees facing discrimination say that’s showing up in his office’s work.
Miyares, then a member of the House of Delegates, voted against the law change. Called the Virginia Values Act, or VVA, it specifically added workplace protections for sexual orientation and gender identity. It’s an issue highlighted by Lt. Governor Winsome Earle-Sears comments at the gubernatorial debate with Abigail Spanberger.
“My opponent has previously said it’s okay for someone to be fired from their job for being gay," Spanberger said before Sears spoke over her: "That’s not discrimination!” the Republican candidate said. "No!"
Earle-Sears has since walked back those comments telling WAVY she would quote “not discriminate.”
Requests to Miyares’ office for comment on his 2020 vote were not returned.
In a statement the conservative Family Foundation of Virginia said the 2020 law quote “failed to include protection for faith institutions,” and should be revisited.
Miyares' Democratic opponent, Jay Jones, was also in Virginia's House of Delegates in 2020. In a statement sent to Radio IQ he defended his vote in favor of the VVA.
Equality Virginia, the state's leading LGBTQ advocacy group, said the law change was a significant step for Virginia.
"We know that when businesses value their employees for who they are we have a stronger workforce and we have a state that folks want to come to and work in," Narissa Rahaman, EV's Executive Director, said before pointing to Virginia's #1 ranking for business in the wake of the law's passage.
"LGBTQ workers, whether they were living here or thinking of leaving hostile states, knew they could come here and have an opportunity to thrive because they could show up as their full, authentic selves."
Arlington-based employment lawyer Joshua Erlich said he was thrilled when the law, backed by the democratic majority, was passed saying it “modernized” the state’s antidiscrimination law. But parts of that law still required the AG’s office to act on complaints and Elrich said Miyares’ office didn’t.
“The AG’s office plays basically a required role in the statute," Erlich told Radio IQ. "But the AG’s office itself has not done a lot in terms of investigating or processing these claims.”
Other employment attorneys, including Samantha Galina with Butler Curwood, said she had few problems with Miyares' team.
"I wasn't personally having timeline issues, but I did hear from other attorneys who did," Galina told Radio IQ, pointing to the administrative role the AG's office plays in complaints; investigating and issuing so called "right to sue" letters which allow private suits to be filed against employers.
But Democratic state Senator Russet Perry said complaints were rolling in about Miyares' office failing to meet the 180-day deadline for complaint responses, and the legislature had to step in.
"Under his leadership, Virginians who experienced discrimination were routinely denied timely 'right to sue' letters — delays so egregious that many victims lost their ability to seek justice in court altogether," Perry told Radio IQ.
Her fix to the 2020 law went on to receive nearly unanimous support in both chambers. It was later signed by Governor Glenn Youngkin after he offered some amendments.
"Virginians shouldn’t be denied justice and the ability to use the law to defend their basic human rights simply because they have an Attorney General who is unable, unwilling, or incapable of doing his job," Perry added.
Requests for comment sent to Miyares' office about how his Office of Civil rights handled VVA complaints were not returned.
