Today I Learned

This subject arose because I had been looking for ways to use Microsoft & Google's Family features to manage my kids in a co-parenting arrangement. I have children with my ex that I currently manage. She has other children that she manages.

I quickly learned however that the features are only designed for parents that are still together & that don't have kids outside their relationship.

For example, parents & kids can only be assigned to one family plan. So she, or her partner, can't maintain their own plan while still managing the kids that I share with her.

Now I thought this was poor planning on Microsoft & Google's part to design their products around a traditional family. This might not rise to the levels of discrimination most people are concerned with, but it got me thinking.

For example, if a company learns someone was born out of wedlock if they can refuse to hire them. One of the reasons we have protected classes is to prevent discrimination based on personal characteristics that have been held to be suspect when used as the basis of statutory differentiations. Surprisingly, there are little to no protections when it comes to people born out of wedlock.

Even protections from discrimination by the government for children born out of wedlock is not absolute. While the Supreme Court has interpreted the Constitution to provide some protection from the government, it has been inconsistent and contains intentional loopholes that allow for the imposition of greater procedural burdens.

https://constitution.congress.gov/browse/essay/amdt14-S1-8-7-3/ALDE_00000834/

To me this is surprising, considering that individuals cannot control whether their parents were married or stay together, but yet are not protected by the constitution & congress has not made laws to protect individuals in such scenarios. Some states have included limited protections, but those are generally applied to the parents & are specific to things like housing, not when it comes to employment.