Measure seeks to change Utah's discrimination law
By Deborah Bulkeley
Deseret News
Published: Thursday, May 22, 2008 12:34 a.m. MDT
http://deseretnews.com/article/1,5143,700228039,00.html (http://deseretnews.com/article/1,5143,700228039,00.html)
Shanti Akayla says she was a highly praised employee at her sales job — until someone saw her rainbow bumper sticker. Then, she was fired.
"I was not out at work, I was not dating," Akayla, 39, told a legislative panel Wednesday. "My employer made an assumption about me because of a bumper sticker ... I had never been fired and I haven't been since."
Akayla had no legal recourse, because, in Utah, employment discrimination law doesn't extend protections based on sexual orientation or gender identity. That's something that Akayla would like to see changed.