Power

Lawsuit: Finance Company Told Transgender Man to Act as a Woman or Be Fired

The company's vice president told Tristan Broussard that he could continue working at Tower Loan only if he signed a written statement “agreeing to act and be treated as female rather than as male while working for Tower Loan, including by dressing as female.”

The company's vice president told Tristan Broussard that he could continue working at Tower Loan only if he signed a written statement “agreeing to act and be treated as female rather than as male while working for Tower Loan, including by dressing as female.” Shutterstock

A Louisiana branch of a Mississippi-based finance company fired a transgender man after he refused to agree to dress and be treated as a woman, according to a lawsuit filed by civil rights advocates in federal court.

Tristan Broussard was hired in February 2014 by Tower Loan as a manager trainee in the company’s Lake Charles, Louisiana, branch. Broussard claims that shortly after he started his job, his supervisor reviewed his employment paperwork and noticed that his driver’s license listed his sex as female. His supervisor asked Broussard to explain why, and Broussard responded that he is a transgender man, according to the complaint.

Broussard claims that less than a week after Tower Loan learned this information, Tower Loan’s vice president traveled to Lake Charles to meet with Broussard and his supervisor. The company’s vice president told Broussard that he could continue working at Tower Loan only if he signed a written statement “agreeing to act and be treated as female rather than as male while working for Tower Loan, including by dressing as female” and that his “preference to act and dress as male” was not “in compliance with Tower Loan’s personnel policies.”

Broussard refused and was fired.

After Broussard was fired, he sued the company, alleging his termination violated Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, the federal law that protects employees from discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, and national origin.

Broussard is represented by the National Center for Lesbian Rights, the Southern Poverty Law Center, Altshuler Berzon LLP, and Delaney & Robb Attorneys at Law LLC.

“I was well qualified to do my job but was fired solely because of my gender,” Broussard said in a statement. “Rather than being treated like any other male employee, my employer told me I would be fired unless I dressed and acted as if I were female. The treatment I went through was inexcusable. It was wrong to be fired for who I am.”

Broussard’s attorneys hope his case marks a turning point for transgender rights in the workplace, especially in traditionally conservative places like Louisiana.

“Tristan was denied the opportunity to demonstrate his capabilities and contributions to Tower Loan simply because of the company’s biased views about his gender,” said Ryan P. Delaney of Delaney & Robb Attorneys at Law LLC.

“No one should have to face employment discrimination or the fear of being fired simply because of their gender,” National Center for Lesbian Rights Senior Staff Attorney Amy Whelan said. “That is what the case is about.”

The suit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana, requests financial damages; declaratory relief; a permanent injunction against Tower Loan prohibiting it from engaging in unlawful sex discrimination against employees or job applicants, including on the basis of gender identity; and attorneys’ fees and costs.

These remedies, Broussard’s attorneys note, only begin to address the harm done to transgender employees as a result of workplace discrimination.

“Transgender people are due a fair chance at employment like anyone else,” said Southern Poverty Law Center Staff Attorney Sam Wolfe. “But the transgender community faces unacceptably high rates of unemployment and poverty due to widespread workplace discrimination.”

Transgender people experience twice the rate of unemployment as other Americans and are much more likely to live in poverty, according to a 2011 survey of 6,450 transgender people in the United States.

Federal courts have been key in defining the scope of protections available to transgender workers on the job, repeatedly recognizing that Title VII’s prohibition on sex discrimination, including sex-stereotyping, protects transgender workers.

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the primary agency tasked with interpreting and enforcing Title VII, has made clear that employers cannot fire or refuse to hire employees solely because they are transgender, as has the Department of Justice.

The EEOC just last week determined that it is a civil rights violation to deny transgender workers the use of a restroom consistent with their gender identity in a historic ruling that is binding on all federal agencies.

Before filing suit, Broussard filed a complaint with the EEOC, which concluded that Tower Loan violated Title VII by firing him.

Tower Loan is a privately owned company with 180 locations in five states. It has not yet responded to the complaint.