Dive Brief:
- Owners of a Holiday Inn Express in Jamestown, New York, created and failed to remedy a hostile work environment in which a transgender employee was fired shortly after they reported a supervisor’s harassing comments and misgendering, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity alleged in a Sept. 25 lawsuit.
- Per the suit against Boxwood Hotels, LLC, and associated entities, the harassment began on the employee’s first day of work. A housekeeping manager “repeatedly and intentionally misgendered and dehumanized” the plaintiff, EEOC alleged. The employee reported the supervisor’s conduct to the hotel’s front office and general managers, who said they would speak to the supervisor.
- EEOC claimed the employee was told by hotel management the next day that the supervisor denied the alleged conduct and “needed more time to get used to” working with a transgender co-worker. When the employee suggested a meeting to discuss the subject, management declined, and the general manager told the employee that the job “may not be a good fit” for the plaintiff and told them their services “were no longer needed,” EEOC said.
Dive Insight:
The agency sued Boxwood Hotels for discrimination on the basis of sex in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, the latest in a series of lawsuits this year targeting workplace harassment against transgender employees.
In July, for example, EEOC entered a settlement agreement with a construction contractor whose supervisors and co-workers allegedly targeted a transgender employee with verbal harassment and physical threats. Months earlier, the agency sued an Illinois hog farm alleging that a co-owner deadnamed and made derogatory comments about a transgender employee. The latter case remains in litigation.
In order to state a harassment claim under Title VII, an employee must show that the conduct is severe or pervasive enough to create a work environment that a reasonable person would consider intimidating, hostile or abusive, according to EEOC guidance. To avoid liability, an employer must show that it reasonably tried to prevent and promptly correct the harassment and show that the employee unreasonably failed to take advantage of any preventive or corrective opportunities offered by the employer.
Per EEOC’s complaint, the employee brought their complaint to hotel management as well as InterContinental Hotels Group, the company which licensed the franchise. IHG advised the employee that the franchise location handles such complaints, according to the complaint. A spokesperson for IHG did not comment on the lawsuit.
“Preventing and remedying discrimination against LGBTQI+ individuals remain key priorities for the EEOC,” said Kimberly Cruz, regional attorney for the EEOC’s New York District Office, said in an agency press release. “Enduring harassment based on one’s transgender status is not and should not be a condition of employment.”
This year also marked EEOC’s publication of the agency’s finalized harassment enforcement guidance, which was updated to incorporate the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2020 decision establishing that discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity constitutes sex-based discrimination under Title VII. The guidance, which has been challenged by several state governments and religious entities, identified misgendering and similar conduct as examples of illegal harassment.
Public visibility of transgender people and issues has increased markedly in recent years, but that does not always mean that education has kept up, sources previously told HR Dive. Employers may be able to take steps to better support inclusion of transgender employees ranging from fighting disinformation and misinformation to establishing cultures of respect.
