Erin Taylor, a transgender woman who worked at a Chick-fil-A in Decatur, Georgia, has filed a lawsuit in district court claiming she was wrongfully fired after being harassed for four months by her co-workers for being transgender.
NBC News reported, Ms. Taylor transitioned about three years ago. She is referred to in court documents by her legal name, Aaron White. According to court documents, Ms. Taylor alleges Chick-fil-A condoned a workplace riddled with “sexual harassment,” “discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation” and “retaliation.” Employers in the U.S. are barred from discriminating against LGBTQ employees on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity following the 2020 landmark Supreme Court case Bostock v. Clayton County.
From AJC:
- Taylor claims she was hired Aug. 23, 2021, and immediately began training for the director of operations role.
- First day of training, Taylor claims that another employee made vulgar sexual remarks toward her.
- Taylor spoke to her shift manager who advised her to speak with the franchise owner, Joe Engert.
- During the meeting Taylor revealed she was transgender and of course, that’s when matters spiraled.
- Engert responded to Taylor’s complaint about the sexual harassment claim by saying, ““that it should be an honor … that someone liked her enough to hit on her.”
- Engert also said he would look into the matter and focus on the sexual harasser.
- During the interview with Engert, the alleged sexual harasser began making discriminatory, homophobic remarks to Taylor, the lawsuit alleges.
- The suit also alleges “Taylor’s transgender identity quickly spread to other employees at the franchise, leading to more of Taylor’s coworkers making homophobic remarks. No one was reprimanded or disciplined, the lawsuit says, and she stopped being trained for the director of operations role.”
- On Nov. 1, 2021, Taylor was fired after the franchise claimed she abruptly walked off her shift. Ms. Taylor claims she left her shift after receiving approval to do so because she was getting harassed.
Of course, Chick-fil-A has not responded to inquiries about the lawsuit.
