Well I applied for a job over the internet, sending my resume and got a call for an interview. I went to the interview, was told by Ed that he was going to hire me, and I was delighted... but, since this job is a caregiver position in the state of Florida all kinds of snoopy requirements come into play, and now they want me to provide a copy of my GED that I got way back in 1973 to prove I have an education!
Good grief! How do they think I got to be a systems administrator for 16 years at a major university without an education?
Welll..... it's become clear that I am not going to get out of telling them about my gender history. They are wanting me to document my education, the GED I got while in the army, and my service record, all of which occured before my gender change, and it would seem there is no way out of telling them what might cost me the job.
Of course that kind of discrimination is illegal, but just try and prove it.
It's a big part of what cost my my career at the university, and has cost me a job on another occasion as well. So I'm just going to have to tell them about the complications with documenting my life and education prior to 1997, and hope it's not the deal killer.
I met with them again today there, meeting Ed's wife Paula and talking with her at length, and they were all the more enthusiastic about hiring me and telling me what a good job this was going to be for me, and how they'd help me put together a care-giver history of 4 years experience where none exists, and how much Ed enjoyed my resume.... etc.... and they clearly have no idea I've ever been anything but a woman.
That they want to hire me is very clear, and I completed the final requirement for that today, having gotten digitally fingerprinted. They really want me there, and they have made that abundantly clear. They seem to be very broad-minded and accepting people, but then I lost my career at a LIBERAL university because a LIBERAL woman took over my department and wanted me gone for having changed my sex.
Even among liberals it's okay to hate people like me and discriminate against us. I learned the hard way that we are the last group it's okay for everyone to hate.
What has kept me from telling them this far is that I want to make sure I've met all the requirements and passed all the background checks and that there's no other reason for them to not hire me. After that if they back out of giving me the job it's quite clearly illegal discrimination, and an actionable offense. I don't want them to be able to pretend that a background check turned up some vague reason to deny me employment that is never explained.
If I've passed all their requirements and all the state's requirements my gender history under law is completely irrelevant and cannot be considered. They are starting me on Monday, and the education documentation is something that can be done over time as I work for them, along with the caregiving history they are volunteering to construct for me.
I have no qualms about telling them once I've passed the background checks and all that, and if they find out before I tell them I can quite rightly say that I didn't bring it up because it's illegal to discriminate on that basis so it was not relevant as I know they cannot consider it as a condition of employment.
Needless to say I'm getting really nervous here. Anyone dealt with this in Florida or in the healthcare industry?
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