September 29, 2007
10th Circuit Upholds Transwoman’s Firing
From PlanetOut:
A Salt Lake City bus driver has lost her trans discrimination case before a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit.
In a 25-page opinion, the panel ruled that the Utah Transit Authority was justified in firing Krystal Etsitty due to its concerns about her eventual use of public restrooms along her route.
Etsitty joins a lengthening line of cases that seek to extend the main federal law against workplace discrimination to protect people who are targeted due to sex stereotyping.
The decision, which is now binding law in the federal courts of the six states covered by the 10th Circuit, is a step backward in the continuing effort to bring the force of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to bear on LGBT discrimination cases.
Next week, Congress is poised to hold a House vote on the Employment Nondiscrimination Act, a separate bill that would protect LGBT workers against discrimination under most circumstances. Ironically, Democrats, who added trans folk to the bill for the first time this year, are considering cutting them loose as the vote looms, the Washington Blade reported.
Filed under: Employment/ENDA, Transgender
