Retail Employer Can Fire Transgender Employee for Violating "Dress Code"

[Hazumu]

Leonard Link
Reporting and commentary on law, music, film and current events by New York Law School Professor Arthur S. Leonard, with a special emphasis on Sexuality & the Law.

Family Express had a formal dress and grooming policy, which Creed claims she was first shown in December 2005, a few weeks before she was discharged. She dressed in conformance with the policy, but her personal appearance was not in conformance with the specification for men due to her hair length and make-up. Creed claims the store manager never complained to her about her appearance. On the other hand, Family Express claimed that numerous customer complaints were made to the store manager, who relayed them to the corporate Human Resources Department, and the Director of Operations also testified about customer complaints. However, no written documentation was offered in support of the employer's motion for summary judgment, merely affidavits.

A district store manager and the director of operations came to the store on December 14 and called Creed into a meeting. What was said in the meeting is disputed. Creed claims she was told she could not present herself in a feminine manner at work, and was asked whether it would "kill her" to appear masculine for eight hours a day while at work. When Creed, who had altered her appearance as part of the necessary "life-experience" preparatory to taking the medical steps involved in gender transition, refused to cut her hair and abandon her current appearance, she was discharged. She filed suit under Title VII, claiming sex discrimination.