Update: On March 10, 2026, the Appellate Court of Maryland affirmed the lower court’s decision to dismiss the plaintiff’s claims of discrimination based on race, sex, and national origin. The court’s opinion is unreported and does not constitute binding legal precedent.

On September 3, 2024, NWLC submitted an amicus brief to the Appellate Court of Maryland in Cheung v. Howard Hughes Medical Institute. NWLC and Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, LLP coauthored the brief, which argues that the Court should construe the Maryland Fair Employment Practices Act and the Montgomery County Human Rights & Civil Liberties Law to encompass claims of intersectional discrimination.

As the brief explains, Maryland courts have consistently interpreted the state and local statutes at issue in accordance with Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, except where Maryland law is more protective than federal law. Because federal courts of appeal have consistently held that Title VII encompasses intersectional discrimination claims, the brief argues, the Appellate Court of Maryland should permit the Asian American plaintiff’s discrimination claims based on sex, race, national origin, and disability to go forward. Moreover, recognition of intersectional discrimination claims is critical to capturing the reality of the workplace experience for individuals who experience discrimination based on multiple axes of identity.