Two recent lawsuits filed by the EEOC are the latest efforts in a growing movement to protect transgender people in the workplace.
The two lawsuits, filed separately in Florida and Michigan,
accuse two private employers of discriminating against transgender
employees. Both lawsuits are based on a 2012 EEOC decision that
effectively expanded the definition of "sex
discrimination" in Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act to
prohibit bias based on transgender status and gender
identity.
In the Florida case, the EEOC alleges that Lakeland Eye Clinic
fired an employee who had previously presented as male but had
recently begun wearing feminine attire to work and had recently
disclosed that she was undergoing a gender transition from male to
female. The EEOC also alleges that the clinic stated that it was
eliminating the employee's position, then two months later
hired a male employee who conformed to traditional male gender
norms for the position.
In the Michigan case, the EEOC alleges that a funeral
director/embalmer was fired after disclosing that she was
undergoing a gender transition from male to female. The company
told her that what she was "proposing to do" was
unacceptable.
In its 2012 Strategic Enforcement Plan, the EEOC identified as a
top enforcement priority the "coverage of lesbian, gay,
bisexual and transgender individuals under Title VII's sex
discrimination provisions." In announcing the Michigan
lawsuit, the EEOC's regional attorney stated, "Title VII
prohibits employers from firing employees because they do not
behave according to the employer's stereotypes of how men and
women should act, and this includes employees who present
themselves according to their gender identity."
The two lawsuits follow a growing list of legal developments aimed
at protecting transgender workers' civil rights. In July,
President Obama issued an
Executive Order prohibiting federal contractors from
discriminating against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender
workers. In August, the Department of Labor released a new
directive clarifying that sex-based discrimination includes bias
based on gender identity and transgender status.
In light of the EEOC's recent enforcement actions, employers
are reminded not to discriminate against employees on any basis,
and to take care to ensure that all employment decisions are
properly documented.
Originally published on the Employer's Law Blog
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