Last year, reality television star and former Olympic champion Bruce Jenner made his transformation official to a transwoman, changing his name to Caitlyn Jenner. Her transformation shed an international spotlight on the plight and rights of transgender individuals in the United States and throughout the world. As Americans, politicians and the courts on local, state and federal levels adapt new policies to protect the rights of transgender people, employers throughout the world are also working to include transgender employees.
It has not been a smooth transition for all though, evident by a recent ruling in Louisiana against First Tower Loan LLC following a ruling by an arbitrator in a discrimination suit.
The company attempted to get the employee to sign a document which would state his, “preference to act and dress as a male, despite having been born a female.” The vice president of the company stated that he must dress like a woman and that he would be in violation of company policy if he attempted to share a hotel room at business meetings with men, not women. This, however, is still gender discrimination.
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission also supported the employee in the fight against First Tower Loan LLC. According to Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, employers are not allowed to discriminate on grounds of gender norms or sex-stereotypes, which includes transgender employees, as we are learning with recent rulings.
Source: findlaw.com “Transgender Man Wins Employment Discrimination Suit,” Christopher Coble, Dec. 20, 2016
