Alleged harassment of transgender employee leads to charges
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) filed a lawsuit against a New York pizzeria charging that employees and management harassed an employee because of the employee’s gender identity.
The claim
The EEOC alleges that beginning in January 2021, one of the restaurant’s owners repeatedly harassed the employee — a transgender male — including saying the employee “wasn’t a real man,” and asking invasive questions about his transition.
The restaurant owners also intentionally misgendered the employee by using female pronouns and stood by as employees and customers did the same, according to the EEOC complaint.
The employee, who worked as a cook, complained repeatedly to management, the EEOC said. The employer failed to protect him, however. They did not address the almost daily harassment from all levels of staff, including owners, managers, and line employees. Eventually, the employee had no choice but to resign to escape the harassment, the EEOC charged.
Title VII protects transgender employees
The 2020 U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Bostock v. Clayton County clarified that gender identity and sexual orientation are protected under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
The New York pizzeria case is the first lawsuit on behalf of a transgender plaintiff the EEOC has filed in six years. The agency, however, in a draft of its Strategic Enforcement Plan released in January, committed itself to focusing on what it considers to be “vulnerable workers” including LGBTQ individuals.
The last time the EEOC brought a lawsuit on behalf of a transgender worker was in 2017, when it represented a worker who alleged that a company rescinded a job offer after learning an applicant was transgender. That case settled in 2019 for $60,000.
Regarding the current case against pizzeria, EEOC New York Acting District Director Timothy Riera said, “Employers must understand that Title VII protects employees from discrimination based upon gender identity and that they have a responsibility to prevent such discrimination from occurring. Employers should take complaints of harassment seriously and take measures to prevent such abuse. If they fail to do so, the EEOC stands at the ready to enforce federal law.”
Prevent workplace harassment
Making a good faith effort to prevent harassment in the workplace can protect employers from facing charges like those filed against the pizzeria. One way to do this is to create and distribute a clear anti-harassment policy specifying that harassment based on gender identity or sexual orientation IS sexual harassment.
It is also a best practice to develop and share a training program to help prevent any form of illegal harassment from occurring in the workplace.
In addition, managers would be well advised to promote an atmosphere of respect for all employees. This may be done through civility training, which promotes a respectful work environment overall, and bystander training, a prevention strategy that encourages those who witness harassment to intervene.
Key to remember: A lawsuit filed by the EEOC against a New York pizzeria charging that restaurant employees and management harassed an employee because of the employee’s gender identity shows that the agency is committed to protecting vulnerable workers including LGBTQ individuals. Employers may want to increase efforts to prevent sexual harassment of any kind in their workplaces through strong policy creation and enforcement along with training and the continual promotion of a respectful workplace.
