But the funeral home president and owner, Thomas Rost, said her plan would violate the home’s dress code. He also expressed concern about Stephens using the women’s restroom and said it would violate his Christian faith to have a male employee presenting himself as a woman.

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission brought the case on Stephens’ behalf. The American Civil Liberties Union intervened after President Donald Trump was elected, out of concern that the administration would change its position on the case.

It remains to be seen whether the Department of Justice, under Attorney General Jeff Sessions, will allow the EEOC to continue participating in the case if it is taken up by the Supreme Court. Sessions issued a memo last year saying the law does not cover transgender discrimination.

The provision at issue in Title VII bans employers from discriminating on the basis of “race, color, religion, sex or national origin.”

The appeals court found that employers engage in unlawful sex stereotyping when they apply sex-specific policies according to employees’ biological sex instead of their gender identity.

Laws in 20 states and Washington, D.C., ban employment discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.