A tire company in Colorado is paying a transgender man $60,000 (€53,257.50) and writing a letter of apology after it settled a sex discrimination lawsuit.
The US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) filed the lawsuit in September 2017. They filed it with a District Court in Colorado against A&E Tire on behalf of Egan Woodward.
According to the lawsuit, A&E allegedly revoked a job offer to Woodward after learning he was transgender.
Woodward applied for a managerial position on 26 May 2014 and received a job offer the same day, pending screenings.
The lawsuit stated Derrick Haight interviewed Woodward, conducted a background check, and gave him a tour of the facilities. He also reportedly told Woodward he had the job pending the screenings and drug tests.
When Woodward filled out paperwork, he marked his gender as female and used his former name.
Woodward said Haight then called him, asking him to verify that he checked female, and then ‘hung up after stating, “Oh, that’s all I need.”‘
Marilee Langhoff, the attorney defending A&E, claims there was no discrimination.
‘A&E maintains it did not discriminate against the young man who applied for the position… and maintains a strong commitment to preventing unlawful discrimination,’ she said.
She added the company decided to hire ‘another individual who was considerably more experienced and also protected by the Age Discrimination in Employment Act’.
The settlement
According to the EEOC, A&E initially tried to dismiss the lawsuit.
The court, however, denied the motion and ‘held that the lawsuit could proceed because the EEOC plausibly alleged that A&E Tire had not hired Mr. Woodward because he did not conform to sex stereotypes’.
The EEOC filed the lawsuit on the basis that A&E violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits employement discrimination based on sex.
With the court’s allowance of the lawsuit, it reaffirmed that transgender discrimination falls under this criteria.
‘We appreciate A&E Tire’s agreement to settle this lawsuit, and we are proud to have obtained an effective resolution that compensates Egan for what he experienced and helps ensure that other transgender applicants and employees will be treated fairly,’ said Regional Attorney Mary Jo O’Neill of the EEOC’s Phoenix District Office.
‘The settlement underscores the EEOC’s commitment to eradicating all forms of sex discrimination, including discrimination against LGBTQ individuals.’
See also
Orlando seeks to become the first city with a network of certified LGBTI businesses
Japan’s largest ever LGBT job fair this weekend
Trans man suing California hospital for canceling minutes before surgery