EEOC Sues Culver’s For Discriminating Against And Firing Transgender Employee

The U.S. Equal Opportunity Commission filed an employment discrimination lawsuit against five related entities operating Culver’s restaurants in Michigan. The EEOC contends these companies violated federal law when they fired a transgender employee and three of his colleagues after they complained about harassment. EEOC said that the harassment included:

• Repeated misgendering,
• Dead-naming (using the individual’s birthname as opposed to their chosen name),
• Publicizing his birthname without his consent.

According to the EEOC’s complaint, the transgender shift manager was “repeatedly and purposely” misgendered by two employees. Three of the transgender employee’s colleagues witnessed one of the employees, who was openly hostile toward gay and transgender people, make anti-trans comments and misgender him. The transgender employee and his colleagues reported the harassment to a Culver’s general manager, but nothing was done to stop the harassment, the EEOC said in its complaint. Instead, the employee was emboldened to obtain the birthname of the transgender employee, deadname him, and reveal his birth name to co-workers without his consent.

According to the EEOC’s complaint, the transgender employee and his colleagues complained again to the general manager about the co-worker’s escalating offensive conduct toward the transgender employee. Instead of investigating the claim, as required by law, Culver’s fired the transgender employee and the three employees who stood by his side the day after they filed the complaint.

This conduct violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 which prohibits employers from discriminating against employees based on gender nonconformity, transgender status, sexual orientation, sex, or gender. Federal rules also prohibit employers from retaliating against employees who report harassment in the workplace. Culver’s was guilty of both of these.

Bostock v. Clayton County Georgia 

In the case of Bostock v. Clayton County, Georgia, which was heard by the Supreme Court of the United States on June 15, 2020, the Supreme Court held that firing individuals because of their sexual orientation or transgender status violates Title VII’s prohibition on discrimination because of sex. Prior, there was no federal rule that protected the rights of transgender workers in the workplace. Instead, individual states ratified their own civil rights acts and included provisions protecting the LGBTQ+ community. But you had to file these suits under state law, and the EEOC was enjoined from involving themselves in these cases until the Supreme Court included gender nonconformity and sexual orientation as protected characteristics under the more general category of sex discrimination. 

In reaching this decision, the Supreme Court explained that “discrimination based on homosexuality or transgender status necessarily entails discrimination based on sex; the first cannot happen without the second.”

Talk to a Columbus, Ohio Sex Discrimination Lawyer Today 

Have you been fired because you complained about harassment in the workplace? If so, you may be entitled to file suit against the company you worked for. The Columbus employment lawyers at Kohl & Cook Law Firm, LLC represent the interests of those who have faced harassment or retaliation when reporting workplace discrimination. Call our office today to schedule an appointment, and we can begin investigating your case right away.

Source:

eeoc.gov/newsroom/eeoc-sues-culvers-discriminating-against-transgender-employee-and-retaliating-against-him