![[Image of a the head and shoulders of a man with black hair in a black security guard uniform, looking into the camera without expression]](https://transgenderlawcenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/20140825_152802.jpg)
It’s an all-too-common story.
Andy T. is a Latino transgender man who works as a security guard in Southern California. His job involves performing pat downs on people of the same gender. When Andy transitioned on the job last year, his employer claimed that he didn’t have to worry and that he was protected against discrimination… at first.
A few weeks later, though, Andy’s manager called him up to say that Andy would have to use the women’s restroom and perform pat downs on women until Andy could obtain a legal name and gender change. His obviously male appearance made that increasingly impossible.
When another manager spotted him using a men’s restroom, Andy was punished. He was suspended for two days, taken off of his regular post, and made an on-call guard. “I went from having forty hours a week to not knowing if I was going to get any hours,” Andy says. “I have a family to take care of!”
That’s when Andy called Transgender Law Center. We wrote a letter informing the company that it was violating the law by singling Andy out and treating him differently from other male employees. We argued that the employer’s conduct violated California’s state nondiscrimination law and the federal employment discrimination law, Title VII, both of which protect transgender people from employment discrimination. This summer, the case finally wrapped up with a successful settlement.
Now Andy has the support he deserves at work. He says, “It was awesome. TLC straightened things out… I got a new badge with my preferred name on it and everything. I’m really grateful that TLC helps individuals like me.”
If you are experiencing gender identity discrimination at your workplace, you don’t have to put up with it! Visit transgenderlawcenter.org/help for additional information or assistance.