The scenario: On her first day at work, a transgender woman told her manager that her preferred pronouns were she, her, they and them. However, her male manager said he couldn’t use those pronouns when referring to a man.
Sure enough, on a daily basis, the manager referred to the woman using male pronouns. The boss also insisted on calling the woman by her former male first name whenever he talked to her.
Each time the manager uttered the wrong pronouns, the transgender woman corrected him. But he ignored her and continued to refer to her using male pronouns and her former male name.
The transgender woman reported her manager’s continued use of incorrect pronouns to a senior-level supervisor, but she was unable to gain an assurance that the unwelcome behavior would stop, so the transgender staff member resigned her position.
Legal challenge: The transgender woman sued for retaliation.
The employer argued that the woman’s objections to the alleged misgendering wasn’t a so-called protected activity. Therefore, she couldn’t have been retaliated against.
The ruling: The company lost. The court said the woman’s daily complaints about her manager’s misgendering was a protected activity because she was pointing out unlawful employment discrimination each time she admonished him for using the wrong pronouns.
The skinny: Remember: If a member of your crew wants to be called by pronouns that don’t match his or her gender at the time of birth, it’s always in your best interest to accede to the person’s wishes. Otherwise, you could be risking a costly retaliation lawsuit.
Cite: Honeycutt v. Penney OpCo LLC, U.S. District Court, D. Oregon, No. 6:24-cv-01211, 11/27/24.
(From the Dec. 13, 2024, issue of HR Manager’s Legal Alert for Supervisors. To start your no-obligation trial subscription to the publication right now, please click here.)