Sex Stereotyping as Transgender Discrimination

By Jon Hyman

Apr. 15, 2015

Last week the EEOC settled, for $150,000, one of its first cases alleging sex discrimination against a transgender employee. This week, another transgender employee filed a remarkably similar lawsuit in federal court in Louisiana. The key difference between the two cases? The Louisiana employer had a formal policy against employees presenting at work as a gender other than their birth gender.

Title VII does not (yet) specifically identify “sexual orientation” as a protected class. But, sexual stereotyping has been illegal for decades. Keep this in mind, and keep an open mind, if your employee shows up as John on Friday and Joan the following Monday.

Jon Hyman is a partner in the Employment & Labor practice at Wickens Herzer Panza. Contact Hyman at JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.

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