Trans official may sue town that fired him

[LostInTime]

Attorney says decision violates Largo's anti-bias policy

Outside the city commission meeting in Largo, Fla., on March 23, a man held a sign that read, "Fire the ->-bleeped-<-got."

Inside the meeting room, the commissioners voted again to fire long-time City Manager Steve Stanton, rejecting his appeal and making his termination final.
[...]
Brian Winfield, communications director for Equality Florida, said none of the issues that are now being raised about Stanton surfaced before his transgender plans became known. He noted that the city gave Stanton an $11,000-per-year raise in October and that his performance reviews were good. He also pointed out that Gentry gave Stanton "across-the-board top ratings" in her latest review of him.

But Gentry said that anyone who read her review carefully could see that she had problems with Stanton's performance. A copy of the performance review was not available by press time.

[Dennis]

Good. I hope he wins and it costs the city tons of money.

Dennis

[Thundra]

Susan sue?

Duh!!!!!

What they fail to realize, is that by making a big deal out of this situation, and firing her, well.....what they have done is create the opposite of what they wanted.

Now they will be under constant media scrutiny to see what happens in this case, and the name Largo, FL will be become notoriously linked to trans-civil rights. Forever.

Why can't these people get it? If you leave GLBT people alone, we disappear. If you make a big brouhaha out of a molehill, we will be hanging around like stink on s_____!

[LostInTime]

My employer pretty much went with the idea that within two weeks some other gossip-y news would be out and about and my whole transition would be forgotten.  The other day a coworker mentioned that she cannot really remember when I was trying to be a guy and I have been with the employer for quite some time now. 

[ssindysmith]

Good for her  talk about a phobia **shaking head**

The same has happened at my work no one really me as D _ _ _ _  all the he and hims have stopped she and her's all the time now and truthfully nobody really cares I did find out a guy in radiology used to be a her and another nurse is transitioning MtoF haven't meet her yet but I think it's cool

[BeverlyAnn]

What we have to remember is that Stanton's contract with the city provided that he could be fired at any time without cause.  Now, anyone can look at this and see that it was a case of discrimination, pure and simple.  However, what is obvious in society does not necessarily hold true in a court of law.

Don't get me wrong, I hope Susan sues, wins and Largo gets hit with huge punitive damages but after seeing what Winn Dixie was allowed to do a few years ago to one of their truck drivers who crossdressed OFF the job, I wouldn't be real hopeful.

Beverly

[Chaunte]

Even if Susan Stanton's contract allowed her to be fired without cause, a lawsuit is definately in order.  On the surface, this appears to be a clear case of discrimination.  Hopefully, Ms. Stanton has kept a copy of all of her past performance evaluations.  This would help prevent any tampering of her file during a trial.

Chaunte

[Suzy]

A lawsuit would serve to raise the issue in the public eyes to yet another level.  While this would be wonderful for us (I hope Stanton sues and wins big) I worry about the issue of Stanton just getting back to leading as normal a life as possible.  What if Stanton had revealed that he had been part African all along, for instance?  All would scream discrimination.  What if it were revealed that Stanton really had leanings toward the Muslim religion?  That, too, would be seen as discrimination.  They wouldn't dare fire anyone with that kind of publicity.  And they would not have a right to, no matter what the contract said. 

Kristi